


The Biggest Regrets

by Biscvit (Sylaiise)



Series: The Biggest Regrets [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Asgore tries his bestest, Asriel is an asshole, Blackberry is weirder, Chara and Frisk switched, Chara can be bitchy, Chara is insecure, Ecto-Tongue (Undertale), F/F, F/M, Frisk is a ghost, Frisk tries her best, Kind of Undertale with a few story twists, M/M, Mutt is weird, Nothing too sexual though, Romance, Toriel is the hugest bitchy bitch in the Underground, also i cant write violence or gore, and poems, at least in any fell universe??? so yeah, fighting against several phobia/trauma, knowing a monsters true name is a weakness itself, monsters use weird nicknames to hide their true identities, my friends wrote poems for this story, poems written by mutt mostly, telling your true name to another monster is a huge gift and hint to their trust and admiration???, this story will contain a lot of romantic comedy, zesty steamy scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2019-11-12 23:07:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18020219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylaiise/pseuds/Biscvit
Summary: Cause we're going to shout it loudEven if our words seem meaninglessIt's like I'm carrying the weight of the worldI wish that someway, somehowThat I could save every one of usBut the truth is that I'm only one girlMaybe if I keep believing my dreams will come to lifeCome to life...





	1. falling

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!!  
> After struggling a bit with my self esteem, I decided to give it a go and write and publish an Undertale-related story!  
> I became a fan of the diverse multiverse, after watching the animated series "Underverse" by Jakei and after doing some research and drawing/sketching a lot, I had to build my own version of "Swapfell"
> 
> Swapfell simply combines two of my favourite AU's - Underswap and Underfell - yet it's not clearly defined, what difference there is between Swapfell and Fellswap (though I kinda get it now, but it's too late to draw back now!). It started with character designs, then with character relationships and ultimately - a lot of shipping and fangirling later - I started to design the storyline of Swapfell. 
> 
> Of course - I took heavily inspiration of other stories and art I saw on Social Media - and there is a high possibility you'll recognize well known characters traits or little easter eggs. :D  
> There were so many ideas regarding Swapfell, it's been a cold case to me, who said what and posted headcanons on tumblr, twitter and co. - if you have any idea, who calls dibs on a character fact or trait, just hit me up.  
> I'll credit, where credit it due.
> 
> Anyway, I think I should stop my little introduction for now and I hope you enjoy the prologue of my Swapfell story!  
> And yes, I'll try to cover the whole journey of Chara through the Underground and hopefully reveal a heartwrenching story behind the upcoming theater :^)

The cold linoleum of the floor sent a shiver up and down her spine. Charas small feet carried her down the hallway to the bathroom. She filled her toothbrush cup with water and swallowed the cold liquid. She didn’t like tap water. It tasted like the algae from the pond outside of the school. The child eyed her mirrored facade in the lime-covered faucet, before noticing the heavy steps outside of the darkened bathroom.

She went outside, attracted by the shallow light of the living room.

“Having a child of your former wife is a burden for our marriage.”

Being mere 8 years old, Chara didn’t immediately get the meaning behind the words of her new ‘mother’. She had hope that, after living alone with the man she called ‘daddy’, her life would change for the better, after being emotionally neglected and ignored her entire childhood.

Anxiously her little fingers played with a hole in her shirt, loosening a few more threads, widening it to over an inch. 

“I mean, sure, I agree,” her father replied to his partner. “can’t give ‘er away tho’ - at one point she’d remember where she’s from, return and ask fo’ compensation.” Chara saw her stepmother nod. 

Silence impregnated the living room and Chara felt the rock in her throat grow with every passing second. What exactly were they planning? 

“Remember the story about Mount Ebott? It’s only 5 miles away from here. We still got enough fuel…”  
“God, I knew I fell in love with you for a reason.” 

Her little eyes followed the two shapes falling into a tight embrace and kiss.  
A slight need to vomit curled up in her stomach. 

“I wish I woulda known earlier how t’ get rid o’ her.”  
“That’s what I’m here for, babe. When she’s gone, our baby can grow up properly.” 

The stepmother lovingly caressed her growing belly.  
Chara finally understood what was going on.

Her stepmother was pregnant.  
Her father never loved her, she wanted to get rid of the last obstacle to complete her perfect family life.  
Why did no one want her?

They wanted to dispose her. The brick in her throat slipped into her stomach, weighing everything down, her heart felt heavy, hot tears quickly built up behind her eyelids and without a second to late, she pushed the door open, crying.

Chara quickly learnt to stand up for herself. She was acting like a grown up, like an adult. She protected those who had it worse than her and was never scared to use violence to forbid any negative comment about her looks and family background.

“Daddy?”  
“Oh, for fucks sake, did she hear all of that?”  
Her stepmother's voice pierced the room, it didn’t stop her from sobbing violently.  
“O-Of course I did!!” she sobbed, wiping away her snot with her slender wrist. “I forgot Mister Snuggles!”  
Unbearable silence filled the room again, before her dad sighed and went over to her.  
“People who are left at the top of Mount Ebott never return,” he framed his daughter’s face in his giant hands. “That’s my only insurance to forget her. To forget, that you murdered your own mother. So let’s leave now.”

He grabbed her by the wrist and violently pulled her out of the living rooms door, grabbing the keys on the sideboard and leaving the apartment. They lived in the slums, a dangerous and cheap area where it was easy to live, if you had enough money to pay for apartments. Many homeless roamed the streets, calling those their home.

“Daddy, please, let me go!”  
“Charakterny, it is for the best, now STOP struggling and shut the fuck up!”

Why did no one want her? Why?

She tried to get rid of her stuffy nose by sniffing up the snot, but it just got worse, making it hard to breath for the little girl. 

“Daddy!”  
“No! Shut up!”

A stinging pain in her head and sudden jerk of her head, made her world spin and Chara couldn’t do anything against it. The slap against the side of her head caused her to get nauseous. At this point, she gave up trying to ask for her father’s mercy and didn’t resist, when he grabbed her and threw her on the backseat of his car. Her head hit the hard plastic of the other door of the car,andher surroundings were covered in a fuzzy grey veil and blurred into unconsciousness.

 

“--have never wanted it to end it this way,” her father's voice was slowly creeping into her ears, while Chara fought to regain her consciousness. “But we need to move on. You need to move on. So I’ll let her go. For a complete new reset.”

Gravity pulled on her body, before she could react, Chara fell.

____

Why?  
Why?  
What did she do to deserve this?  
Why was she thrown down Mt. Ebott, to be forgotten and killed?

It was her fault.  
It was all the mistakes she did.  
She cried too much. She gave too much for others.  
She was responsible for her mother’s death.  
She drove her father away from Day One!  
She was useless. She broke his new family apart.  
She was never meant to be happy, wasn’t she? 

Her determination to live was the sole reason for her ceasing existence.  
Chara finally understood. And chose to embrace her fate.

_*DETERMINATION_

______

“YAYA, WAKE UP HOOMAN.”  
*Deep breaths.  
“hEyyyYYYyyy hooman!!!! open ur eyes, cmon, cmon!!”  
 _*Don’t be scared, you will be fine. Now, come on, open your eyes._

Chara dared to open her eyes, after noticing, that she indeed, was alive. The young child jerked upwards, turning her head left and right, trying to understand what was happening right now. As a weird creature jumped on her lap, she shrieked pushing the monster away.

“owowowowowowow, no hit, no no ! no hit, puhlease.” - “I-... what?”

_*It said not to use any violence. Be kind._

“Sorry,” Chara carefully rose to stand amidst a field of buttercups and thick moss. She carefully bowed down to caress the monsters head. At first, it reminded her of Mr. Smiles. The animal (*?) was the same size as him. “my name is Chara, who are you?”  
“hOiii! my namE is TEMMIE.”  
Chara, totally dumbfounded by the sudden, very motivated introduction, started to giggle.

“Okay, Temmie. Where am I?”  
“underground.”  
“Underground where?”  
“underground, where monster live, yaya, verrrrrry dangerous.”

Chara’s fear creeped up her back. Monsters? Here? She realized that she was in a cave and that those flowers and moss softened her fall. A small ray of light beamed down the opening from where she fell from. How did she survive that fall? Back at the school, when she fell from the monkey bars, she scraped her knees and hit her head - it hurt terribly.

_Back at the school... her friends.... daddy? Mr. Snuggles?_

With a sudden rush of emotion, her despair and fear returned and Chara’s tears began to flow uncontrollably. Her sobbing filled the cave, knowing that there was no way of returning to try anew, no way of redemption for her. She was worthless. Why was she still alive?

_*Stop thinking that, you’re worthy. You’re worthy of love and appreciation._

A sudden spark of hope bloomed in her chest and the tears slowed to a stop. The warmth in her chest blossomed to an unknown extent and Chara refused to suffer under the decisions of the person she once called her father.

“T-Temmie?”  
“yaya?”  
“Show me where to go. I can’t stay here forever.”

____

Temmie led the child through the catacombs entries, as they called it. Catacombs? What was that? Chara didn’t understand a lot that Temmie tried to explain her. Many words she had never heard before. Despite her courage and her determination, she was still an 8 year old, trying to survive.

The first puzzle was solved by the cat creature with ease - a plus sign had to be activated within a square of switches on the ground that the solver had to walk on. The spikes vanished, but Chara stopped at the lithic plate at the wall. The language was graphic and total gibberish, though, she once saw similar signs at school, when she played around in Microsoft Word and its funny fonts. 

It was probably just a guide on how to win the riddles, so the kid shrugged it off and followed Temmie further into the deep ruins.

“yaya, underground dangerwous!! very! VERY!!” Temmie started to vibrate intensely and jumped towards a stuffed dummy on the eastern side of the room. Stuffing poured out of the poor puppet and its button eyes were dangling on a single thread.

“need to defend urself, good, yaya, use stick, here,stick!!” Temmie had a solid branch in its mouth and pressed it into Chara’s hands.

_*Be friendly! Strike up a calm conversation, the dummy has seen worse days, a little compliment would be the right choice._

Chara nodded, determined to do exactly that. 

“when FIGHT gowing, u strike first, you live. kill or be killed, easy, yaya?”  
“Hm.”

A FIGHT was initiated, and Chara’s surroundings were turned into a muted version of reality. It was as if every brick and leaf around her were drained of their colors.  
Of course, the dummy didn’t say anything, why would it?  
She chose to ACT and told a joke, laughing about it, knowing the dummy wouldn’t react. 

“nuh nuh nuh, not spare, not funny, cant be nice, you will be killed!!!” Temmie jumped at Chara, ending the FIGHT abruptly. “monster meanies, monster bad!! they shoot u ded, ded!!”

_*Anyone deserves a second or third chance. Being nice and honest can turn the worst monster into someone friendly._

“But Temmie, you are nice to me - and you help me. If that’s possible, I believe other monsters might not be that bad.” Chara said, a worried expression on her face.  
“oh nuuuuuuuu, not gud, not gud….” whimpered the cat creature. Or was it a dog?

Still, they ventured forward and entered a new room, a giant room. No riddles in sight, Chara stepped forward, before Temmie quickly pulled her back. The floor crumbled into tiny pieces, revealing a frightening darkness below it. 

“O-Oh no - oh no no no.” 

Chara was afraid of heights, she always was, but after being thrown off cliff and into the Underground, her fear seemed to be even worse than before.  
“I can’t, no, I won’t be able to pass that riddle.”

“Voicessssss, I heard them here, I ssssswear!”  
“Ribbit, ribbit.”  
“Yeah, Froggit is right, if you play a prank again, you’ll end as a pile of dust, just like Whimsum!”

“monster coming, no no, you must go, quickly, quickly.”  
“Temmie, I can’t, don’t you understand?”  
“but monster fight? monster kill?”  
“Maybe I can befriend them?”  
“don’t sound like they are fwiendly”

“There!! What’s that?”  
“Ribbit, ribbit!”  
“A human?! Alone in the Ruinsss with no Assssgore nearby? What a lucky day - one of usssss can become a sssstrong monsssster!”  
“Ribbit.”  
“No, Froggit, it won’t be you!”  
“Ssssstop talking, ssssssstart attacking!”

_*Ask them to become friends._

“Uhm, guys, don’t you, uh, like, want to be friends?” Chara held her arms out, offering a group hug, but the monsters ignored her completely. They began throwing different bullet patterns of magic in her direction, instantly starting a FIGHT.

The rooms color had already started to fade when a red trident flew over Charas head, right into the group of monsters, dusting them immediately. 

“Peasants! Don’t you dare touch the human!”  
A deep, raw voice bellowed behind her. Chara was almost too afraid to turn around, not knowing what kind of opponent she would meet now.  
But she did it and, oh boy, was she surprised about the monster's appearance.

Giant in size, he still stood quite far away from her, to be exact on the other side of the room, huffing deeply to regain his breath. The black, long hair was unkempt and sharp, curved horns sat on his head, gifting him with at least another foot of height.  
The white fur was the most distinct feature though. With the big paws, who were his hands and feet, he looked fluffy and almost adorable!  
Chara lost that thought, when she noticed the sharp teeth in his muzzle.

“Human!” The voice was much softer than before, easing Chara’s tension just a tiny bit. “My name is ASGORE, I am the keeper of the catacombs and Guardian of the Undergrounds entrance - please, stay where you are, I shall escort you for the rest of the way.”

He stomped a very particular and interlooped way through the room, which Chara quickly understood as a pattern not to fall down into the bottomless pit. She surely did a few steps away from the crumbly tiles, as Asgore came closer.

_*Don’t be afraid._

Now standing in front of her, he was a giant - Chara’s neck almost started to hurt, as she looked up to him and noticed his red and yellow, piercing eyes. To ease the small humans spine, Asgore went down on his knees and offered his big, fluffy paw.

_*He will never harm you._

 

“Thank goodness, you are safe. Those ruins offer a lot of danger, especially to a small child like you. What is your name?”

 

She hesitated before softly laying her tiny hand into his.

“My name... My name is **Chara**.”


	2. growing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Growing up isn't an easy task.  
> As well as raising a child after a hundred years of solitude.

“So, how old are you?”  
“I am eight years old still, but soon nine!”  
Chara sat on Asgore's head and kept herself steady holding on to his horns.  
“Do you know, how you fell?”  
“Yes.”  
“Care to tell me the story?”

She went quiet, almost completely silent, which worried the monster, that carried her through the Ruins. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pressured you, little one.”

_*Tell him. He’s heard it before… probably - a long time ago. You aren’t the first to fall._

“My father threw me down to kill me.” Her usually soft voice was filled with bitterness and sorrow. “With my mother being dead since my birth, I’m alone, I guess.” 

His first reply was a displeased grunt.  
“A father should never abandon his child, not to mention see it being killed.” Asgore murmured. “Guess there exist people, who do not take their duties seriously.”  
They passed many riddles and puzzles, a few deadlier than others. Chara was convinced that she would have been dead after the floor-tiles puzzle, but with Asgore guiding her, everything seemed easier, better.

When a giant blossoming tree appeared in front of the pair, Chara couldn’t stop herself from getting totally crazy about this sight. Asgore carefully grabbed her and put her down on the ground. Thrilled to see more interesting flora at this place, the child ran towards the tree, patting the rough bark. 

“Come, follow me, Chara.” His voice was… patience itself. The child looked at him before grabbing his paw again, but instead of being violently pulled, as she was used to, he walked beside her, walking her to the entrance of his home. 

The inside interior of the home did not meet Charas expectations. Warm, dark coloured wood covered the floor and roughly knotted rugs welcomed new guests. Potted plants hang from the ceiling, a few plants grew their lianas over the wall of the staircase.  
Here and there were colorful splotches of blossoms of different style and kind. 

Asgore went to his right and Chara followed him, next close to him, holding one toe of his paw tightly. 

“Here, a room of your own. Make yourself comfortable, everything you see and like, will be yours.”

Of course, she wouldn’t want to stay at a place called Ruins, just to mention the imminent danger of aggressive monsters outside of his home. 

But Chara couldn’t just…. leave. Could she?

_*Don’t. He means it. He really means it._

The child nodded at the offer of her very own room, entering it and exploring, what was now hers and hers only. A ton of toys, jigsaw puzzles, stuffed toys, that probably resembled monsters, and not to mention the soft, warm bed! 

Maybe her demise of being thrown and abandoned, wasn’t a demise after all?

After a long, needed nap, she explored the rest of the house, found Asgore’s bedroom, a closed off room under renovations, many exotic plants and ultimately, she reached the living room. Asgore sat in a giant armchair, perfectly crafted to fit his mass of a body. 

“Oh, hello, there, little one. Did you rest well?”  
“Yes, thank you kindly, Sir.”  
“Please, refer to me as Asgore.” The giant monster rubbed an ottomans surface. “Come, sit with me by the fire.” The child followed his recommendation and felt the comfortable heat of the fire. Curious as she was, she sticked the hand right into the flame, subconsciously knowing, it wouldn’t hurt her. And she was right - the flame was tickling her palm and surrounded her extremity like glowing liquid. 

“I have to tell you a story in return for telling me yours, right?”  
Her attention moved from the fire to his face and she nodded lightly.  
The story was long and with a hot chocolate in her hand, Chara listened to the deep voice of Asgore, telling his story. He called himself an old man, that worries to much, despite the fact that he was so big and powerful. His story played around his past and the family that fell apart because of stupid mistakes and to redeem this mishap, he’d wanted to try again.

The honesty, that he gifted her, she didn’t want to take it for granted, that is why she listened and tried to understand, what he asked of her. Asgore, the fluffy pushover, begged her to stay with him, be the child, he couldn’t raise fully.

Chara, an unwanted child, unsure of what the future would bring, afraid of giving trust to others, thought about his offer.  
Her being only 8 years old, made the decision easy, though.  
What was better than your own room and toys? 

**She stayed with him.**

____

Charas daily routine was simply. Wake up, eat breakfast with Asgore, brush teeth, endure his schooling with the overdue books from the library, enjoy a 30 minute break outside, endure more schooling, eat lunch, endure the last hour with him. When she was done, she was allowed to play on the front porch. Chara would have loved to go further away from the house, but the fatherly monster didn’t allow it.

It was, when a Whimsum, sobbing and stumbling with its feet, appeared behind the ever-blossoming tree in Asgore’s front yard. Inflamed with rage, Asgore threatened to dust the Whimsum, immediately summoning a ball of deadly fire magic but it was Chara’s determination to prevent the little monsters death. A little bandaid did the trick and with its freshly dressed wound, the Whimsum flew away without further harm.  
Asgore’s demeanor started changing from this day on.

It was another day in the Ruins, another possibility to find any secrets, that the monsters from back then, might have left behind. 

The trust between them grew and Asgore allowed Chara to leave the front yard for exactly 30 minutes a day - for her safe keeping. His explanation were the other monsters as well as adverse puzzles. A small hourglass helped Chara keeping an eye on the passing time. 

With each day she managed to learn the layout of the catacombs a little bit better, finding safe and quick passages, meeting other monsters, befriending them and returning just in time to meet the agreement she made with Asgore.

The social interactions with the once hostile monsters did her well. She felt accepted. Back then, when Chara helped the little Whimsum, the good deed was gossiped all over and many hurt monsters searched for Charas help, if they were able to. Now they came to her without hesitation, but still wary about Asgore's presence. No monster in the Ruins dared to attack her and Chara pushed them to strike up friendly conversations about their daily life in the catacombs.

Asgore took care of her, fed her, taught her valuable lessons about life and gardening. She knew how to grow her own food, how to care for water sausages before harvesting them for some stir fry. Just one other human fell, sadly to their death, a sight the 14-year-old would never forget. Asgore took care of their burial and planted more moss and buttercups to prevent any more deaths. She still wondered how she survived such a fall, but they didn’t.

“Chara?”  
Asgore caught his daughter off-guard. Her mind hidden in deep thoughts, she jumped at his touch almost breaking out in tears. The caprine monster took a step back, unsure of what was going on with his child.  
“I-I’m sorry, ah-” she flipped the fried egg, sunny side up, wondering ‘til this day, where the hell Asgore got chicken eggs in a place like this. Chara came to the conclusion that many things were explained by magic, but this--?

“Are you alright? You seem distressed.” - “It’s all good, Mr. Dad Guy-” she replied, sighing. He knew something was going on, unsure on how to approach his concern.

“I was… washing our laundry last night and found blood on your clothes. Did you get hurt in the Ruins, when you played with the others?” 

Again, Chara jumped, squaring her shoulders.  
“No?”  
“Humans bleed, when they’re hurt, Chara.”  
“They do.”  
“Please explain to me, why there-”  
His daughter turned around, revealing a giant bulge in her pants. Confused in the first second, he understood quickly. Afterall she was an assigned female and humans couldn’t change their physical gender without a dangerous operation. 

“Char-”  
“I started bleeding 2 days ago and it won’t stop!” She started crying. He noticed her emotional distress for a few days now, he kind of knew that from back then with his first human child. His baby girl would cry for hours, eat the sweetest Starfaits and act all hot and cold out of nowhere.  
“D-Dad?” she sobbed.  
“--- I! Uh! Yeah?”  
He was lost in thought.  
Asgore didn’t know what to do. He knew, it had something to do with a humans….

“Oh stars above, you are **fertile**.”  
His voice turned out to be surprised, disgusted, bitter, surprisingly also supportive, despite his weird facial expression. He never thought about giving Chara ‘the talk’.  
“F-Fertile? Dad, what does that mean? It hurts and it’s nasty!” She grabbed his shirt and buried her face in it, rubbing off snot and tears.

Asgore sighed.

“When female humans are growing up, their bodies accommodate to pass its genetic material on.” Asgore patted his daughter back with his giant paw, turning off the heat of the oven with a flick of his finger. “Which means, in simpler terms, you’re becoming an adult and can become pregnant with a child.”  
He shuddered at the thought of Chara, his little girl, bearing a random monsters spawn.  
“Pregnant? Me? I am 14!” She sniveled. “I stopped playing with dolls 2 weeks ago, I can’t become an adult yet!”

_*Don’t stress yourself, he hasn’t seen something like this in a century._  
“Chara, should I try some healin-”

**“Oh, shut up!”**

Asgore stared at his daughter in surprise. Yes, since she entered the next phase of growing up, which humans called ‘puberty’ in their books, she had been feisty here and there. But never before did she sound so annoyed and - ready to do something regrettable.

“Child, I think it is better, if you take a hot bath and clean yourself up. We’ll come up with a solution for your discomfort.” he said with a stern look on his face, giving his suggestion a commanding character. “If you’re done, I’ll come to you and assist you with whatever you need help with.”

Chara looked at her father with angry confusion, not knowing what to do, despite his clear instruction. In the past few years, she has lived with that voice in her head, which helped her, yes. But sometimes it just…. took control of her and her actions and thoughts and she has been too helpless to do anything against it. With time, she understood, that it wasn’t her thinking supportive thoughts and words, but something entirely else.  
Whatever it was, it hadn’t revealed itself yet. Everytime she looked into the mirrors of this household, the voice emphasized a happy “It’s you!”.  
And now, that Chara consciously knew that she wasn’t alone, whatever she did or where ever she went, a slight paranoia accompanied her daily life.

“Yes. Apologies, father.” She murmured, storming out of the kitchen to do as he told her.

The hot water surely did some wonders to the cramping in her lower abdomen. Chara relaxed in the bubble bath as good as she could, washed herself up, before she’d ruin the water with her bleeding. 

‘Hey, are you there?’  
‘I know you can read my thoughts, at least those, that I want you to hear.’

No reply.

‘Sure, just be silent. As fucking always, when I try to talk to you.’

She closed her eyes and laid back against the wooden planks of the trough she sat in. It was an ancient vessel, big enough to fit Asgore but with built in steps so she wouldn’t drown in the deep water. 

‘Since the voice I hear in my head is similar to mine, I suppose you are female. And we haven’t known each other before I fell, so who or what ever you are, you became part of me as I fell into the Underground.’ the human girl tried to recollect the knowledge she gathered in the past few weeks. ‘You know, it’s pretty impolite to latch yourself onto someone and not even introduce yourself to your host.’

No reply whatsoever returned from her soliloquy and she decided to end this senseless conversation with a sigh.

Slowly, Chara rose from the step she sat on. She grabbed the towel on the bathtubs rim and wrapped her auburn hair into the fluffy pink fabric. As she opened her eyes, her reflection didn’t show her naked body nor her face. Noticing the extraordinary robes from her father first, her maroon eyes wandered to the woman's amber colored eyes.

“Who are you?”  
_*Currently your conscience._

Confused she looked around, it felt as if the woman stood right next to her, whispering in her ear. But there was no one to be found.

_*I’m sorry for troubling you, Chara. It was never my intention to keep you up at night._

The girl decided to reply in silence. She couldn’t raise any awareness to her special situation. 

‘An apology? Better late than never, I suppose.’ Chara washed the waters surface and soft waves disturbed the reflective image of her conversation partner.

‘Tell me, who you are and why…’ she hesitated, as her eyes followed the tiny teardrops fall down the woman's cheeks. ‘... why are you crying?’

_*My name is Frisk Dreemurr. Asgore’s deceased daughter._

“Chara? Are you done bathing? I sew something for that problem you told me about.”  
“Just a second, Dad, I’m almost done!” 

As she looked back at the water's surface, Frisk’s visage was gone.  
For a short moment, her brain tried to call her appearance off, but it was too realistic to be not true. Afterall she was living in the Underground for over 6 years now and many unrealistic things have happened. For god's sake, she was being raised and fed by a caprine monster!

Quickly washing herself clean between her thighs, Chara got dressed in her nightgown and squeezed the towel between her legs before opening the bathrooms door for her father. Asgore respected her privacy and with a thankful smile, Chara used the panty liner her father crafted for her.

_*I don’t know, why my earthly appearance is crying._

A very belated answer to her question, which didn’t satisfy her at all.  
‘So, the ghost of my adoptive stepsister is following me around? What a relief.’

_*I couldn’t move on after dying. Something kept me in the Underground._

‘Any idea what exactly?’ Chara rubbed a towel over her hair and brushed through it with her fingers, while looking in the mirror. 

Frisk’s face appeared next to hers like a soft transition to avoid any frightening thoughts within Chara.

_*I suppose someone wanted to keep me here. In any way. Or maybe I had something left to do besides my duty as the kingdoms princess._

“Kingdomffs prinffeff?”

She stopped brushing her teeth.  
Charas expression ranged from surprise to excitement as she understood those words. 

_*Oh. He didn’t tell you, right? He tends to hide that from the children that fall down here._

‘That he’s a king?’  
_*Queen Consort, if I may correct. King’s don’t exist in the Underground._

“Oh shoot!”  
Chara felt so weird, she just got to hear some dirty secret of her father and couldn’t ask him about it, without raising any suspicion…

‘Well, I’ll ask him someday when it’s time to do so.’

She emptied the glass of water and left the bathroom tidied up, before leaving for her room.  
On her nightstand was a satchel with a message attached to it.

**‘I filled this satchel with fire magic, maybe it’ll ease the abdominal pain. Sleep tight, little one. We’ll meet tomorrow for breakfast - I’ll prepare some pancakes for you!  
-Mr. Dad Guy.’**

With a smile on her lips, Chara snuggled herself under her blanket and pressed the satchel on her belly.

‘Hey, Frisk.’

_*Yes, Chara?_

‘I don’t know if ghosts sleep, but I hope you dream well.’

_*Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite._

___

It was another quiet day in the Ruins, when Asgore asked her to water the plants in Home.  
That wasn’t an easy task with over a hundred little potted plants spread through the building, but there was no room for discussion. He had an important errand to run to and so he left his adopted human daughter with a watering can. After 3 hours of watering, refilling and almost breaking a giant terracotta pot, Chara decided to take a break and leaned against the heavy exit of the ruins. In the first year, he didn’t let her go down into the basement, shoo’d her away as soon as she took single step downstairs. Now he let her do anything, trusted her enough not to escape one day without a single word and she was truly thankful for that.

It was that exact moment of gratitude, when a muffled ‘KNOCK KNOCK’ rang out to her.  
Slowly, she stepped towards the heavy doors and touched the cold, violet stone.

“Who’s there?” she answered, surprised by the sudden sign of life behind that door.  
“ya!”  
“Ya, who?”  
“Yahoo, who am I talking too?!” An excited, raspy voice of a male resounded and Chara heard clothing shuffling behind the stone door.

“I am Asgore’s child.” she replied. “How may I call you?”  
“name’s mutt.” The male replied. “you?”  
“Chara.”  
“nice name… chara.” A chuckle from him made her blush. A genuine compliment about her name? Normally, other people would pick on her for having such a neutral, non-predicative name. Someone calling it a ‘nice name’, without that mocking undertone, made her... happy.  
“Thanks, I guess.”  
“usually asgore replies to my jokes, didn’t know he had a child.”  
“I’ve been with him for 7 years.”  
“hell, that’s a long time. didn’t think he’d adopt a fellow monster.”

She covered her mouth with both of her hands.  
Of course! Mutt would never think that she’d be a human. Asgore told her how the ‘Kill or be Killed’ mentality changed the thought process of the monsters living underground. She herself had trained a lot, mentally, that is, to get rid of her very own little doubts and thoughts she had towards the magical creatures. If it weren’t for that mysterious voice in the back of her head, that taught her patience and love (not LOVE), she would have done… unmentionable things.

“Y-yeah, never thought he’d take me in, to be honest. I’m really thankful.”  
No reply. Just shuffling of clothes.  
“How old are you?”  
“not too old, heh.” Mutt replied. “i’m growing towards my 150s!”  
For a second she froze. Was the monster on the other side an old man? It would make sense, with Asgore being in his prime age as well. The raspy voice would fit as well.  
What did Asgore once said? How old was he? Chara couldn’t remember.  
But Monsters aged in a different way than humans, right?

“I just turned 15 last Monday.” Chara replied, a bit lost in thought.  
“aww, so young and innocent. i guess fun isn’t something happening often in the catacombs, hm?” Mutt chuckled. “i mean not like you wanna party, you’re literally still a toddler.”  
“Excuse me, I’m almost a grown up!” she hissed.

**“Chara?”**

The human girl’s head perked up and she gasped, surprised to hear her father's voice from the darkness. It was a deep, baritone voice, one that could give either comfort or pure fright.

“Sorry Mutt, gotta go. It was nice talking to someone else but my father.” She giggled.  
“huh? sure, uh, cya?” he sounded confused. “will you return? chara?”  
“Probably not…” Chara whispered, rising from the cold ground, leaving towards home.

She knew all too well, that he didn’t got her answer.

_____

“Happy Birthday.” Chara opened her eyes as her bed creaked under the additional weight behind her. “Happy 18th Birthday.” As warm fur surrounded her, she giggled, fully accepting the tight embrace of her father. 

She still couldn’t believe that she actually lived long enough to reach full maturity. Her arms wrapped tightly around Asgore’s neck and she pressed her face into the soft, white and black fur. “Thank you, Dad.” - “You’re officially a grown-up now, hm?”  
Slowly letting go of him, she leaned back. Asgore and her exchanged a tender look before embracing each other again. “Come, the monsters of the Ruins prepared a little something for you.” He rose from her bed and presented a large, carefully wrapped present on her desk. “You should try it on. They gave their very best.”

Dressed in a chic maroon colored turtleneck and patched up black jeans, Chara followed her father into the living room, where her closest monster friends waited for her. It was the little Whimsum, she helped as a kid, that held a jewelry box into her face.  
Carefully she opened it and revealed a golden necklace. Attached to it was a golden heart locket. With hugs, kisses and a few tears in her eyes, the celebration of her 18th birthday fully began.

For once in a lifetime, Asgore’s house was filled with life itself (besides him and his daughter). Monsters of the Ruins strolled by, wished all the best to his child.  
He still couldn’t believe, that she was an adult now - at least according to the human dictionaries they read a long time ago.

As the evening came by and the hands of the clock wandered, Chara and Asgore found themselves in the living room. The fire magic warmed them up nicely and they wallowed in long gone memories. 

“Father, I have a question.”  
_*Yes, be courageous, ask him._

“What is it, my child?”

“The Underground - you told me it was a wholesome place once. Do you believe it could become the place you loved so dearly?”

Asgore looked at Chara and took of the reading glasses from his muzzle.  
“I did. Not anymore, I suppose. A long time has passed since the Queen changed the lifestyle of every monster - all of them are used to it now. Several generations of monster were born since…”

He stopped mid sentence and sighed.

“... since you were banned, isn’t that true, Queen Consort?”  
Charas voice wavered with uncertainty as she finally confronted her father with the fact, that he was indeed of royal descent. 

Dumbfounded he closed the book on his lap. 

“How… how did you…?”

“Let’s say a little someone told me.” Chara smiled softly. “There was no need to hide your heritage, father.”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t see me as a father figure.” Asgore confessed. “It has been several decades since I discarded of this role of mine.”

She forced herself not to reply, but couldn’t hold back.

“It explains your undying love of the folks out there. Even though you dusted inhabitants of the Ruins, you still spoke fondly about your… former subjects.”

“Don’t call them like that. The Queen commands the lesser monsters, I was simply decoration and means to an end.”

Both of them fell silent.

“I want to…” Chara clenched her fists until she felt the stinging pain of her fingernails in her palm. “...put change into the Underground. I want to save whatever is left of your former kingdom.” 

“What are you aiming for?”

“Please let me go. With some preparation and rations I can surely venture through Snowdin, Waterfall and Hotland and challenge the Queen.”

“You have no idea, what you’re asking for, Chara.”

“I know you’re afraid of actually doing something! You prefer to obey the Queen’s ban and hide in the Ruins, hoping, people would forget.”

“Chara, that is enough, you are clearly overstepping a line here.”

“They suffer, I don’t know how or why I know this, but I know that there are monster out there, who are begging for a change - I could try my best and fulfill their wish!”

“I will not lose another child.” Asgore’s reply resembles a hiss.

 

“Please understand, father, that we shouldn’t leave it how it is! If we try and fail, we can say so with confidence! But I believe, no, I know, I can do this!”

The caprine monster stared at his adopted child, staring at her appearance. She seemed to be unwavered with her motives, determined to leave the Ruins, even if he wouldn’t dare to help. And he couldn’t! He couldn’t support such a headless, dangerous endeavor!  
Asgore lost his child once, he couldn’t lose another one.

“Wait here, I have to do something.” He put the book down on the ground and rose from his comfy chair, leaving Chara behind. She stared at him, as he left the room.  
Anxiety build up inside her, as she heard his steps on the basement stairs. 

_*You have to follow him - now!_  
‘Frisk, do you have any idea, what he might do?’  
_*Test you._

Chara rose from the ottoman and sprinted after her father. Despite his weight, he moved forward quickly. She had trouble to keep up with his speed. 

“Dad!”

_*Following our father with the intention to talk this out, fills you with Determination._

#### *SAVE

The long corridor of the Ruins seemed endless, as the violet stone went by her.  
With heavy breathing, Chara slowed down, as Asgore stopped right in front of the doors, that marked the last hallway, leading to the final exit. 

“Dad…” Chara held her side, enduring an uncomfortable stitch. “What are you planning to do?”

Asgore pressed his paw against the cold stone of the door, inhaling deeply, before turning around. “I want to destroy this door and prevent you from leaving.” Lambency wrangled itself around his wrist and formed into a giant ball of fury and heat. “I did not raise you to lose you, Chara.”

_*You won’t lose me again!_  
“You won’t lose me again!” she said, confident with her words.  
Asgore looked at his girl, as if he had seen a ghost, the ball of fire shrinking for an uncertain moment, before growing again. “I will make sure of that, just let me do this--”  
Chara sprinted towards her father, jumping his broad, furry arm to stop him from destroying the last and only exit of the Ruins to the Underground. Asgore, focused on gathering his strongest magic, summoned his trident, throwing his fire magic against the arms of his daughter, swinging his deadly weapon around.

“Chara! Let go!”  
“No! Ah!” 

She screamed, pain burned through her skin, her brain signaling danger, hurt, death. Despite being used to Asgore’s fire magic not hurting her, she expected him to burn her - but not that bad. The smell of burnt flesh filled the tunnel almost immediately and she let go of her father, lacking the muscles in her arm to keep holding on.  
“D-Dad?” 

“DO NOT DISOBEY YOUR FATHER.”

A sharp pain went through her body, as the glowing sharp ends sunk into her body as if it were lukewarm butter.

“....”  
“.... Dad, how could you?”  
“My child?”  
“I trusted you!”

 

Panic grew in Asgore’s eyes, as the trident disappeared and the giant caprine monster fell to his knees.

“No-! No, no, no, not again, Frisk - Frisk, I am sorry, please, no-!”  
He build pressure on the wounds helplessly, as the red fluid stained his fur in a dark red.  
“I- Dad? It’s… it’s so dark, where are you…?”  
“Little one, I am right here, I am here, right here, next to you-!”

 

“You didn’t… you didn’t hold your promise, you let me die, you didn’t protect me, you…” Chara smiled bitterly, spitting her very own blood onto her fathers muzzle. “You dirty… murderer.”

#### *LOAD

Chara opened her eyes, as right under her fingers floated a glowing, golden star. Warmth spread through her right arm, reminding her of Asgore’s fire magic. The safe one.

‘Frisk, what is that?’  
_*The power of Save and Load…?_

“I just… I just died. To my… to our father’s hands.” Chara lost all control of her legs and let herself fall down against the ottoman of the living room. The phantom pain in her belly was still very apparent.  
“Frisk, Frisk, please, please show yourself, I can’t - I can’t go down there - he will kill me again, he will-!” Her breathing got heavy, blood pounded in her ears like one of these giant Asian drums from the encyclopedia, that she read a long time ago. Hot tears creeped up behind her eyelids, as her surroundings turned into a watery, blurry mess.

Yet, she felt as cold hands framed her face and soft lips kissing her forehead.  
_*Shhh, breath in and out, I am here._  
“Frisk, I can’t, I just… I can’t-!”  
_*Chara, you did not fall down to grow white and old in the Ruins, you need to leave. You have another purpose._

Chara couldn’t hold back, embracing her tears fully, accepting the embrace of her ghost sister, as she let her despair and frustration out.  
Once she calmed down, a giant explosion convulsed through the house of Asgore.  
“He destroyed the exit, right?”  
_*Yes._

Chara sighed, looking at Frisk’s ghostly visage.

“Here we go, then. Let’s try again, shall we?”

Frisk smiled at her living, breathing sister, nodding determined, as Chara closed her eyes.

#### *LOAD

Back again.  
Chara looked at the golden, glittering star, almost melancholic as she let her hand drop by her side. She took several deep breaths, before grabbing the fireplaces poker.

 

_*Chara, you won’t need a weapon._  
“Who knows. I won’t get myself senselessly killed by own father without defending myself.”  
_*Don’t… please, don’t hurt him._

Determined to get this over with, Chara stomped down the pair of stairs into the cellar.

#### 5th try.

She died too many times already and even Frisk was on wit’s end.  
“Explain to me, why he always calls me by your name, when I die.” Chara took the pair of stairs in a quick speed, counting every step to distract her from hyperventilation.

_*I’m sorry, I don’t remember._

The young woman grunted, pulling her outgrown bangs into a tight ponytail with her buttercup tie. 

“Five times a charm, huh?” 

Chara quickly understood that holding a weapon in Asgore’s presence only woke a more violent side in her father, that killed her even quicker than the first try. So she left the fireplaces poker where it hanged. 

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Chara.”  
Asgore held a fiery ball of magic in his palm, ready to fire. She had the assumption, that he knew of all her fates up until now. Well, not knew - but he probably felt some kind of déjà-vu.

“Who knows?” She smiled at her father, slowly stepping towards him.

“Don’t come closer.”  
“Will you kill me?”

“What?”  
“I asked you, if you’d kill me, dad. Burn me like a steak, impale me with your trident-”  
“Chara, what-...”

Asgore steadied himself on the lithic exit. 

“You say it, as if you’ve…”  
“Experienced it? I can’t say I did.”  
“I’ve never heard you being so bitter.”  
“You keep me caged in a house and want to force me into a life I don’t want, what do you expect? That I just lay down and accept my fate?”

Asgore growled under his beard, reformed the fireball and threw it at his daughter.  
She evaded the deadly magic, looking at her one and only parent.  
“Let me go, father.”  
“No.”  
“Asgore, you can’t keep me caged like an animal! I am your child, you can’t protect me forever!” Chara rose her voice to an angry accusation. 

“Why won’t you understand, that I can’t lose another!”  
“You never lost Frisk firsthand, Asgore - as long as you remember her, she will be there, she isn’t lost!”

The caprine monster stared at Chara in angry confusion - how did she knew of her name? The name of his first child, his little lamb Frisk?

With a scream he sprinted towards her, too fast for the untrained young woman. Violently being slammed against stone, forced any remaining air out of her lungs.  
Chara was sure that Asgore broke a rib here and there. 

“Is that how you’ll finish this problem? Kill me and get rid of the responsibility? Just like my father did, Asgore?”  
“He wasn’t your father, I raised you!”

“A father should never abandon his child, not to mention see it being killed.” Chara hissed, screaming as some heat source burned some spots on her arms and legs. 

**“A FATHER SHOULD NEVER ABANDON HIS CHILD, NOT TO MENTION SEE IT BEING KILLED.”**

She repeated his very own words, staring into his red and yellow eyes.  
The burning sources vanished, the pain did not. Asgore let her go, covering his face with his giant paws, slumping over to the lithic door, the exit of the ruins. 

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to look her father into the eyes.

“I understand now, keeping you trapped down here, will only lead to dark thoughts, like the ones I once had…” Asgore pressed his fluffy paws against his face, his black scraggly hair framing his broad face like an uneven frame.  
“Father, please…” Chara took a step closer, holding her right side. She suffered from several burnings, her whole body ached terribly. “Please just understand, I do not do this to make you suffer. I want to change the Underground. Your stories were so full of hope and dreams…”

Asgore sobbed even harder, his breath shuddered under the immense emotional weight of letting his little girl go. He had to. He just had to let her go into the revengeful, merciless Underground.

“I believe in you. Just don’t forget. I’ll always be with you--”

 

She forced herself to run the few meters and glomp him in an attempt to hug the huge mass of fur and muscles that were her father. He accepted her hug, lifted her without any effort into the air, weighing the human in his arms, almost cradling her.  
She truly was the most precious thing in his world.  
But it went without saying that, if you let LOVE go, one day, it would return on its own.  
And suddenly, he was so confident, that his little girl would manage to put a change into their world.

“Come,” he sniveled, snuggling his muzzle into the crook of her neck. “let’s get you healed and cleaned up. We have to prepare some rations and gear for your travels.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it!  
> You finished the first real chapter after the Prologue, yay!  
> Thanks a lot for reading, please leave a comment if you have any questions or wanna tell me what you think about Chara's exciting youth. :D


	3. meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting a new buddy, chum, pal and his brother.

The cold wind immediately cut into her eyes, and Chara couldn’t avoid to let a few tears fall. With a heavy thud, the doors behind her fell shut. A heavy sigh left her, she touched the cold stone with her fingertips. 

“I love you, dad.”  
_*Knowing that he supported your decision in the end, fills you with Determination._

#### *SAVE

It seemed like a daydream to be outside of the Ruins.  
Sure, once upon a time, her dream to leave the catacombs was big and mighty, but living with Asgore, being in his caring embrace… she already missed the comfy fire magic in the fireplace.

“We going?” Temmie jumped up and down in front of her, vibrating intensely. That little fellow had joined her back when she first fell, but rarely, no, never accompanied her, since when Asgore adopted her. Now being parted from her father, Temmie didn’t even try to hide anymore. How happy she was to see that little chickpea after so many years!

“Yes, let’s go, little bean.” Chara sighed, following the snowy path ahead.

Luckily Asgore had given her an inventory with some monster food and made her put on warm clothing. He explained what would expect her in the Snowdin area and took some time to prepare her for the worst. She appreciated his efforts and she knew all that stuff on her back would become helpful at some point. 

Temmie playfully rolled around in the snow, jumped and continued to vibrate intensely, happy about the new world they were exploring. A giant branch blocked the path, but Chara was able to climb over it, before she ran after Temmie, trying to catch up to the hyperactive cat-dog-monster.

It was at this moment, when the branch behind them got smashed to tiny bitty pieces.  
Chara couldn’t think of a logical solution to this brutal strength and grabbed Temmie, while running towards a wooden bridge. Right before she reached it, a wall of bones grew out of the earth, forcing her to stop moving. Her heavy breathing helped her catch breath and become a bit calmer. She had never seen other magic but the ones from the monsters in the Ruins. Luckily, she got blessed with a good constitution and a fierce, stable state of mind.

**“ h u m a n - d o n’t y o u k n o w h o w t o g r e e t u r n e w e s t b u d d y?”**

She recognized the voice immediately, letting Temmie go and covering her mouth in surprise. 

**“t u r n a r o u nd a n d s h a k e…”**

 

Without hesitation she turned around and looked into her followers eye...lights?

“Mutt?”

Silence. Soft flakes of snow fell down on them, in the far distance heavy loads of snow fell from trees, resulting in hollow echos.

“no fuckin’ way.” 

There he was. **Mutt.** Her unknown conversation partner from years ago! She still remembered his voice clearly. It was so unusual. Sounded like he swallowed a cheese grater! He was… imposing, to say the least. At least two maybe three heads taller, a broad chest, stylish leather jacket, not to mention the edgy fur around his coats collar. The whole look got even edgier with a lilac leathery collar with golden studs and a broken off chain. The cold, artificial light reflected on his right golden canine.

“chara, is that you?”  
“YA YA, CHARA, CHARA.” Temmie screeched, jumping on the girls head, ruffling her hair. “SHE CHARA, SHE MY FRIEND.” 

Chara giggled, enduring the tickles of the little monster pestering her, before she looked at Mutt again, gifting him a genuine smile.

“Yes, Mutt. It’s me. Fuzzy Pushovers daughter.”

“you’re a human.”  
“... Apparently, you greeted me with....”  
“shit, you’re hot.”  
“I… yeah.” She shook her head and sighed. The bones behind her disappeared and he offered his hand. Before shaking it, Chara checked it for any traps.

“how thoroughly are you?”  
“Dad told me, that even handshakes can be deadly.” Chara explained, looking at him with a stern expression. “Just because we exchanged a few words through the Ruin’s door, don’t mean I trust you.”

Mutt sighed.  
For 3 years, 4 months and 6 weeks, he dreamed of getting to know the ‘monster lady’ behind the stunning voice, he had heard back then, when he decided to practice his poems.  
Sure, she was only 15 years old. Any other monster would call him a pedophile for thinking so affectionately about the unknown stripes behind the door.. But she sounded so mature! She really did. No way a child would sound so inspiring.

He wrote so many mysterious poems in the past years... 

“kid, how come you left your home?” Mutt’s eyebrow bones moved into a worried expression. “wouldn’t you’ve been pretty save around asgore? out here it’s…”  
“Pretty dangerous, I know, I’ve heard it all and I’m sick of all those warning. If I was able to befriend you through a door, the rest of the Underground will be child’s play!”

Silence followed.

“chara, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
“Excuse me, stop sassing me.” She put her hands on her hips. “You’re at least 7 feet tall, smashed a giant tree-like branch without effort and just stand here, small talking with me.”  
“yeah, well. i mean, you can’t go back right?”  
“Nope, lost my keys, can I have yours?”

He jerked with his sharp shoulders, looking at her with mixed emotions of distress and embarrassment.

"you shouldn't flirt with adults like that, holy shit!"  
"I'm an adult myself!"  
"you're 18 years old, you're not an adult."  
"I'm not offering to prove that I am indeed an adult, Mutt."  
Surprised, he looked at her, silenced by her quick backtalk. As soon as he recovered from the conversation, his eye sockets narrowed.  
“don’t get too cocky, there certainly are monsters, who could misunderstand that sass.”  
“Oh, you think I’m sassy? Thanks! I practiced in front of a mirror.” She snorted.  
“could you take this seriously for once?”  
Chara looked at him.  
“I’ll continue my journey. Anything to look out for?”  
“the royal guard? my brother? monster in general?” Mutt replied, not believing her unstoppable self esteem.  
“Oh, your brother? Care to introduce me to him?”  
“no? are you mad? you have a death wish? what the fuck, i knew asgore wouldn’t be a good father, he’s too depressed- hurgh!”  
Suddenly, Mutt felt a hard tug on his collar and got forced to bow down to the height of the human. She snarled at him, her eyes glowing with a sheen of red, a _dangerous_ sheen.

“Listen here, dipshit. You talk shit about my father and I’ll stick this stick,” she held it in the air. “...into your non existent, bony ass, understood?”  
He tugged himself loose from her grip and she fastened the flower hair tie back into its usual place, holding back her outgrown bangs, she had an eternity ago.  


“never had someone acknowledge so fast, that i am indeed a skeleton monster.”

“what else are you supposed to be, bonehead?”

  


Ah, the poison she sprew with her words immediately inspired him for more poems.  
He couldn’t hold back a giggle.

“What?”  
“nuthin’”  
“You’re mocking me!”  
“ain’t”  
“Tsk, sure.”  


She rolled her eyes at him, before she crossed her arms. Her face grew warm, suspicious embarrassment creeped up her cheeks in a sweet rose tone.  


“So, Mutt - which way to go? I think I can manage from here.”  
His eyelights wandered over her blushing face.  
He could smell her innocence from here.

“uh, just follow the path, snowdin’s two hours by foot from here.” he replied belated.  
“‘k, thanks.” Chara picked Temmie up and continued marching forward, mentally preparing herself for the long walk into the unknown territory of violent monsters.

“sure, you can manage? didn’t take much to fluster y’all up.”  
Chara turned around, stared at him before the flush on her cheeks returned immediately.  
She flipped him off, “oh, that’s vulgar, sugar.” before crossing the wooden bridge, almost slipping off the frozen wood. 

Determined to continue this journey on her own (well, Temmie didn’t count, yes, she had her bright moments but most of the time, that monster seemed brain dead) Chara passed the sentry station.

"MUTT!”

Surprised over the sudden, shrill voice out of the woods, Chara froze on the spot and tried to make out the shady silhouette in the distance.

“ARE YOU SLACKING OFF AGAIN, YOU USELESS PIECE OF TRASH.”

“fuck, fuck, fuck.” The human turned around, watching an anxious skeleton waddle towards her, grabbing her by the shoulders.

“Mutt?”

“just shut the fuck up. hide and do for once, what someone tells you.” he hissed at her, shoving her behind a snow covered bush. Chara didn’t reply and nodded, before sinking to her knees. Promptly, the snow melted and the fabric of her black pants was wet.  
The anticipation of the coming event made her ignore that just fine.

“no, m’lord!” Mutt’s whole attitude changed. “i’m here, just movin’ around a bit, warmin’ myself up in case a human comes.”  


“FOR ONCE YOU CAN FORESEE WELL ENOUGH TO FULFIL THE ONE AND ONLY TASK I GAVE YOU.”  


“y-yeah, sure, m’lord, i promised not to slack off, right?”  


Carefully, Chara peeked behind the bush, scanning the scenery with her maroon eyes.

A smaller skeleton, dressed in much less clothing than Mutt, but nonetheless in a very fancy style. A crack in the back of his head was a very instinct detail Chara noticed immediately. The high heeled ankle boots didn’t change the height of the skeleton at all.

Mutt still towered over him like a giant but his lowered head clearly signaled some kind of submissive behavioral role between them.

“WHY ARE YOU SO NERVOUS?" 

Chara noticed the shift of mood between them, the nervousness of Mutt grew significantly. 

“i-i i don’t know what you’re talking about,” mutt shifted from one foot to another. “i’m just cold.”  


“SKELETONS DO NOT FREEZE.”

“you don’t know that, br- uh- m’lord - im freezing _down to the bone_ , heh.”  
Chara tried her best to hide her snort. 

“MUTT." 

“m-m’lord?” 

“YOU ARE HIDING SOMETHING.” 

Oh no. 

“aren’t you freezing? im ‘bout to freeze my _coccyx_ off.” 

What is a _coccyx_? 

“IS IT BEHIND YOUR STATION?” 

Oh shit- 

Whatever his name was (Chara wasn’t willed to name him m’lord, like Mutt did), moved over to the wooden sentry station of her skeleton friend. Which would gift him a perfect view behind the bush she was cowering behind. 

The smaller skeleton slipped behind the station, checking it thoroughly. 

“Your stash of Maple Syrup is simply disgusting.”  


“Well, I got a real _sweet tooth_ for this stuff, bro.” 

It was his brother! Chara stared at the scarred skull of Mutt’s brother, attracting his attention, as if she’d used telekinesis.  
Bright violet eyelights and maroon irises met. 

“Pa- Mutt - What Is This.”  


“i- uh - i don’t know, a bush?”  


“I MEAN BEHIND THAT BUSH-”  


Mutt stepped closer and looked at Chara as well, trying to mimic an apologizing look on his face. 

“i guess…. i guess that’s a human.”  


“A HUMAN?”  


“yes, m’lord.”  


“STARS ABOVE, MY LEADING POSITION WILL BE ULTIMATELY SECURE - HUMAN!” Chara shrieked and rose hastily from her wet and cold hiding spot.  


She was holding back a giggle, when she noticed the difference of height between them.  


“I SHALL BATTLE AND CAPTURE YOU - YOU MUST BE DELIVERED TO THE QUEEN OF THIS REALM AND BECOME THE REASON OF MY SUCCESS!”  


He stomped towards her, merely reaching her chest with his height.  
Chara wasn’t even wearing any heeled boots. 

“Hi, my name is Chara, how are you? Can you stop screaming at me or are you _compensating for something else_?” 

The greeting threw him and his giant of a brother off. Staring at her in confusion and surprise, Chara held out her hand. 

“YOU WON’T ESCAPE YOUR FATE WITH SOME DIMWITTED COMMENTARY!”  


“Wow, you really are something. And that’s your brother?”  
She looked over to Mutt, smiling.  
“He seems nic-”

A numb pain went through her stomach and she slowly looked to from where it came from. Some kind of bone sword was stuck in her.

“IT ISN’T CLEVER TO LEAVE YOUR ENEMY OUT OF SIGHT - THE BATTLE JUST BEGUN!”

Not capable of speaking, Chara spit blood into the snow in front of her. She sighed.

“Impaling someone isn’t very nice,” She grabbed the sharp blade of bone and pulled it out. Her painful scream bellowed through the woods in an endless echo and it didn’t take a moment too soon that she fell on her knees, holding her wound. “Humans are squishy, fleshy messes, you hurt them, they die - but you know what, you little shit.”  
Chara grabbed the bandana around the small skeletons neck and pulled him down.  
“Try to get me next time, I won’t be so naïve.”  
With a last grunt, she collapsed and allowed her body to rest.

#### *LOAD

“Stars above, I can’t believe it!”  


Chara was so close ramming her head against the hard, cold lithic doors of the exit, not caring, if she’d split open her skull.  


_*He wasn’t like this before._  


‘Frisk, what do you mean?’  


_*Sans, I remember, Sans wasn’t like this, when I knew him. He was kind and funny and charming-_  


Chara frowned over that surreal commentary of her ghost sister in crime.  


“You are shitting me, right?”  


“what the _fuck_ did you do-!”  


Without a warning, Chara felt a push against her sternum, automatically grabbing for the bony palm that caused it.  


“i just saw you die and now you’re back here and i just woke up and you’re alive - what the fuck did you do?!” Golden-Purple streams of magic appeared right in front of her face and she noticed the pulsing eyelights, staring at her in anger.  


“.... Mutt?

“ **E x p l a i n** , or i am going to have an **amazing** time.”

“You remember?”

“of course i do, i saw you bleeding out in the snow, what magic did you use to revive yoursel-”

Chara pushed his hand aside, embracing his neck in a tight hug.

“I’ve come in contact with a scary ability,” Charas tears started running. “I can… I can ***SAVE** and ***LOAD** like in a videogame and repeat until I achieve what is necessary to free the Underground.”

“you’re lying.”

“You saw me bleed out and now i am standing here - unharmed! Do you really think i’m shitting you?”  
Chara loosened the hug a tiny bit to have a better look on Mutt’s face.

She took the opportunity to observe the tiny cracks and dents in the magical bone structure, kind of admiring the matte purple shade - even though it could also be caused by the artificial lighting in the Underground. His eye sockets shrunk and his typical, tired look re-appeared.

Mutt on the other hand was absolutely fascinated about the drying tears on her cheek, the redness and puffiness of her eyes or the soft, slightly curled babyhair of her ponytail framing her face. He always had a fondness for humans, especially for their poems. Seeing a beautiful specimen like Chara surely was a whole new experience.

“kiss me.” he breathed, the mandibles moving with his spoken words.

“.... Excuse me?"

“kiss me and prove that you’re telling me the truth - if you do that, i’ll believe you.”

Heat build up in her face yet again, she could even feel it in her earlobes!

“I- I can’t… I… we barely know each other, we exchanged a few words years ago!”

“and yet you don’t hesitate in hugging me, kissing someone isn’t a big deal either, sugar.”

He returned her hug, wrapping his arms around her waist. Even though there was no way of escape now, Chara still struggled. She never experienced close body contact to another monster this… big - not to mention his rather human-like appearance. It was weird to hug someone else in such an intimate embrace, but her foster father! But the quicker she got this over with, the quicker it would be over, right?

She remembered, when she gave Asgore quick, little pecks on his cheek, when they celebrated his birthday or father’s day - so Chara did the same, quickly smooching the sharp cheekbone of her hugging partner. Certainly was she surprised about the texture of the bone - it was soft, reminding her of clay. And it was also comfortably warm, reminding her of one of those pouches, that Asgore would fill with fire magic for her abdomen.  
“There, a kiss, as demanded."

“damn, you really are one from the innocent sort, huh?”

Without further hesitation, Mutt pressed his closed mandibles, his teeth, against her lips.

He was either begging for entrance or movement - but how could she react at all?

Kisses weren’t described in any encyclopedia.  
Just to mention, that Asgore tried to hide anything from these old human grimoires, that had anything to do with physical, sexual contact between two beings.

After a while, he retreated from pressing his mouth against hers.

Chara, still in shock about _dying again_ , meeting someone, who noticed **RELOADS** and that someone suddenly intimately touching her out of nowhere, following all his movements with her maroon eyes.

“he lets you go in a world, where monsters are violent, kill and be killed and take what they want, where they want, without telling you, what a kiss is?”

Chara tried to swallow the huge mess of discomfort in her throat.

“I know what a kiss is, I just didn’t choose to enjoy, what you gave me.”

Mutt easened the hug, but didn’t let go of her. He smiled at her, brightly, unusually happy.

“that’s okay, sugar. we’ll have plenty of time to get you used to me.”  
“So, do you believe me? That I have this ability-”  
“yes.”

Relieved about his prompt reply, she pulled herself up into his arms again, snuggling her face into his fur-hemmed hood. It smelled sweet, like some kind of syrup, and cigarette smoke. A very comforting combo.

“Thank you, you probably don’t understand, how much that means to me.”  
For a moment, Chara thought she felt some kind of rhythm from Mutt’s chest, but she took it as her own heartbeat.

“so, **SAVE** -ing and **LOAD** -ing - care to explain?”  
Mutt loosened the hug and Chara slipped back onto the ground. His eyes looked normal again and the colored magic was gone.

Chara slightly turned to the golden shimmering **SAVE** star.

“Can you see something over there?”

“only bushes,” he replied. “but we can have some fun in there…”

“ew ew ew!” Temmie vibrates intensely, jumping between Chara and Mutt through the snow.

“Well, I can only **LOAD** when I have a current **SAVE** , otherwise it drags me back to the last **SAVE** point.”  
“yeah."  
“And normally I need some kind of… uh … checkpoint and they look like this.”  
Chara drew the shape of the **SAVE** star into the snow and Mutt looked at it with interest.

“Up until now I haven’t experienced any limit of **LOAD** ing - but I can only **LOAD** when I’m dead and everything is being reset to the last **SAVE** point.”  
“i hope you won’t tell that to anyone else.”  
“Why should I? You’re the only one telling me, that you remember me dying.” Suddenly the realization kicked in. Chara striked a thinking pose, staring into the far away distance.  
“Do you… remember any **RELOADS** a few hours back?”  
“my day restarted 5 times, if that is what you me-”  
Mutts eyes widened and he grabbed one of her shoulders, forcing her attention on him.  
“what happened in there?”  
Her surprise turned into something like sadness, hopelessness, before pushing off his phalanges off her shoulder.  
“Nothing of interest. Shouldn’t we go? Your brother should appear any moment.”  
Chara slipped past by him and Mutt stayed behind. He didn’t need her confirmation, after what she had told him. **RELOAD** ing was only possible, when she was dying, dead or on the verge of it. Which could only mean that her very own father killed her several times before she could leave the Ruins.

“Mutt, are you coming?”

The skeleton turned around, grinning. Chara frowned immediately.  
“if you want to - but only inside of ..."  
“Don’t even dare to finish that sentence.” She screeched, when he teleported right next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He pressed his face (or teeth?) against her cheek. “aw, sugar, there ain’t a reason to be so stingy towards me.”  
“WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS?”  
Mutt’s and Chara’s eyes wandered to the path in front of them, where a small built skeleton tried to look very intimidating. Knowing of his unpredictable way of attacking, Chara took a step back. Surprisingly Mutt stepped towards his brother, shielding her.

“m’lord, i can explain.”  
“THEN EXPLAIN YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS.”  
“she’s the queen consorts daughter, he sent her to deliver a message.”  
Sans, as Frisk said his name before, looked dumbfounded, as if the two of them were trying to fool him into believing them.

“THAT’S A CHEAP TACTIC, HUMAN, I MUST SAY…”  
Sans summoned one of these bone swords and readied himself to fight.  


“TURNING MY VERY _OWN BROTHER_ AGAINST ME IS HONORLESS - HOW DID YOU KNOW HE HAD A SOFT BONE FOR YOUR KIND? MWEHEHE-!”  


He shut himself up pretty quickly and Chara put her hand on Mutt’s upper arm.  


“Did your brother just tell me, that you have a _kink_ for humans?”  


Mutt turned around, embarrassed and flustered up, his skull colored in a violet hue.  


“i-i-i - what?! no! i ain’t!” He stuttered, turning around to Sans once again. “ _I TRUSTED YOU, BLACK_.”  


“THAT’S WHAT YOU GET YOU DIRTY TRAITOROUS MUTT!”  


“THE QUEEN CONSORT ORDERED ME TO PROTECT THE HUMAN - TELLING HER I HAVE A KINK FOR HER KIND AIN’T MAKING THIS ANY EASIER!”  


Now they screamed at each other, throwing insults around. Chara wondered, if that was the normal way of interaction between the two brothers.  


“Hey!”  


They continued screaming, discussing the current situation, arguing who was right.  


“Hey, listen here you dumb dipshits!”  


Chara bumped their foreheads with each of her hands knuckles. It was a soft, well meant memorizer that she was still there. Mutt and Black stared at her, confused about her sudden involvement.  


“Discussing like this won’t lead anywhere.” She sighed. “My father gave me a message to deliver to the Queen and I am the only one allowed to tell her. But there is something else.”  


She jumped on the bandwagon that Mutt started with his obvious lie.  


“I got the task to free the Underground, so I am looking out for any kind of help or support.”  


“ARE YOU TRYING TO SHITTING ME AGAIN, HUMAN?”  


She was kind of annoyed about the distrustful behavior of the skeleton brothers - sure, Mutt can be sweettalked into believing her almost anything apparently, thanks to the fact, that she was a human. But would other monster react in the same way, just to mention in a similar violent aggressive way? She wasn’t trained in evading attacks, by all means, she’d probably learn the different bullet patterns with each death, but really - Chara preferred to die as little as possible. Dying wasn’t a very comfortable sensation.

“I do not mean harm and do not have the intention to lie to you, kind sir.”  


Out of nowhere, she felt the need to make a royal curtesy, before falling to her knees. For once the skeleton was taller than her and he noticed it as well.  


“All I ask for is your support in my father’s and mine endeavor, it would help me a great deal, _Captain of the Royal Guard_.”  


Elegantly pressing her hands against her chest, she looked at him with puppy eyes.  


Sans’ face lost all eagerness to beat his brother or capture her within a moment. Confused, he seemed to scan her face for any dishonesty, but couldn’t find any.  


_*You remember me, don’t you?_  


“W-Well, The Only Right Thing To Do, Since You Seem To Be Such A Passionate Fan Of Mine…” Sans striked a pose, grinning again like before. “Is To Escort You Through The Outskirts Of Snowdin And Offer You A Meal Fit For Royalty!”  


“Thank you so much, kind Sir.”  


Chara turned around to face Mutt, still kneeling on the cold, icy ground. He seemed to daydream away, his eyelights fixed on her appearance.  


“Mutt! Lift the Queen Consort’s daughter up, carry her, she doesn’t deserve anything less, but a proper escort!”  


“as you command, m’lord-”  


No hesitation, as expected. He grabbed her at the back and under her knees and carried her princess style. Chara held her breath while steadying herself on his shoulders.  
They started walking, over the bridge, past the sentry station and ventured forward.

At some point, Chara felt the cold really get to her and she couldn’t hide the sound of her clacking teeth. Black, as well as Mutt, couldn’t stand the sound and the taller skeleton offered his leather jacket to keep her a bit warmer. After Black commanded him to do so.

“Aren’t you freezing.”  


“nope.”  


“I know what you’ve been thinking, when you saw me on my knees…” She grabbed his leather collar with her right hand and almost pressed her lips against his skull, where his ears might have been. “You’re a naughty skeleton, Mutt - your brother was right after all, hm? With that fetish of yours?”  


The skeleton grabbed her harder and seemingly breathing heavier.  


“ _fuck_ , stop whisperin’ like that, or else-”  


“What? You can’t tell me you’d force yourself on me.”  


He turned his head to look at her. She noticed his eye sockets shift from one form to another. As soon as he got excited for something - his eye sockets grew in size and his eyelights appeared. Normally the sockets were smaller, resembling cartoonish eyes.  


“i’d never do that, sugar. i’d explore your body, together, with you, so we both learn what you like-”  


“Stars above, you really don’t know how to be decent!”  


“CAN YOU TWO STOP BEING ALL TOUCHY WITH EACH OTHER.”  


Mutt grumbled.  
“sure, m’lord, whatever you say.”  
He jerked back, when he felt soft flesh on his teeth. Quite horrified, he looked at Chara, who couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes, after kissing him.  
He enjoyed knowing that she wasn’t so averse to his flirting as she tried to show.

____

Arriving in Snowdin was certainly something. The monster walking towards Sans and Mutt, bowed their heads, while looking away, treating the brothers with the utmost respect.  


“Sir Black, is it true, what the other monster say?” A bunny monster stepped forward, when they passed the Inn. “Did a human arrive in Snowdin?”  


Sans nodded.  


“SHE WAS SENT AS AN AMBASSADOR FROM THE QUEEN’S FORMER CONSORT.” He said. “TREAT HER WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”  


“Why?”  


“BECAUSE SHE IS HIS DAUGHTER AND WE WOULDN’T WANT TO SEE THE _WRATH OF A DREEMURR_ IN SNOWDIN.”  


The bunny nodded, clearly filled with fear and ran away to spread the news in town. Sans turned around and stared at the pair behind him. Chara tickled Mutt’s neck, carefully scratching the vertebrae, which made the skeleton purr like a tamed tiger.  


“Stop That.”  


“But he enjoys it so much.”  


“I SAID STOP THAT, RIGHT NOW.”  


Chara sighed and retreated with her hand and Mutt let her down on the ground, where she tried to take off the leather jacket, but he pulled the zipper back up.  


“it’s okay, sugar, keep it for now. we’ll be in the warmth soon.”  


“WE SHALL GO TO OUR HOUSE AND I WILL INSPECT YOUR INVENTORY.”  


“you got any weapons, babe?”  


Mutt looked at her, almost tenderly, while fixing her hair, putting a wisp behind her ear.  


"Yes.”  


“WELL, BETTER BE SAFE THAN SORRY, LET US GO.”  


Sans lead them on while Chara held on to Mutt. Her eyes wandered through the neighborhood of Snowdin. Despite the bright snow it seemed to be a sinister village. Frowning or fearful faces were the only ones she met, children cowered behind their parents and those that were strong enough to defend themselves, tried to look as imposing as possible.  


“For how long are you living the new lifestyle the Queen brought over the Underground?” She looked up to Mutt, who smirked. 

“should be a century. m’lord and me were merely babybones, when the incident happened.”  


“You mean the death of the crown prince and princess?”  


“CAN YOU SHUT UP FOR ONCE?”  


Charas shoulders jerked together. Sans’ voice had changed, there was… emotion in it.  


An emotion Chara couldn’t quite understand.  


“Sure, whatever tickles your _funny bone_.”  


Mutt snorted, Chara giggled and Sans turned around, furious about the sudden pun.  


“FOR TORIEL’S SAKE CAN’T YOU FOLLOW A SIMPLE ORDER - MUTT YOU ARE A TERRIBLE INFLUENCE ON OUR GUEST.”  


“sorry m’lord, can’t help it, when she gets _my humerus_.”  


Desperate to get it over with, Sans stormed off towards the house, which was decorated in broken Gyftmas lights and tattered, aged pieces of supposedly bloody rugs.  
Absolutely not a welcoming look, but after taking a deep breath, she entered the house with Mutt.

___

“bro, where are you going?”

“We Will Look Through Her Inventory As Thoroughly As Possible! The Kitchen Table Should Be Big Enough.”  
Mutt sighed. “don’t mind him, he’s actually harmless once you get to know him.”  
“My Brother Stands Corrected! I Am Not Harmless!”  


“I guess I’ll be the judge of that,” Chara mumbled. “since I got impaled by him once already.”

Her look was supposed to sting, and that it did, as Mutt retreated from her side to the kitchen as quickly as possible.  


Chara took off the leather jacket, smelling it once again, before carefully placing it on the coat hanger at the entrance door. She really liked that combination of cigarette smoke and maple syrup and tried to hide her happiness, when she noticed her turtleneck smelled just the same.  
In the kitchen she emptied her inventory, just as Sans wanted.  


A sturdy stick of the old tree in bloom from her father's front porch, bandaids, as well as several different kinds of monster food, like monster candy or snail pie. Temmie counted as inventory place as well, the weird animal just laid there on the table, vibrating weirdly as usual.  


“That Stick Is Your Weapon?”  


“Yeah?”  


“I Don’t Believe You.”  


Chara groaned, as she pulled a dagger out of her boot. The silver blade was well polished and taken care of. And against all expectations, she seemed to handle it quite well, easily swinging it with a move of her wrist.  


“Wise Choice To Reveal It Now.” Sans tested the weapon on a sheet of kitchen paper, admiring the sharpness of the blade. “Who Is The Smith Of This?”  


“My father told me it belonged to the princess and that it was a birthday gift. Didn’t say, who gifted it to her.”  


Sans sighed, placing the dagger back on the table.  


“Well, You’re Well Equipped For The Journey Through Snowdin - But Certainly Not For Waterfall nor Hotland.”  


“No shit, Sherlock.”  


“My Name Is Sa-, I Mean, Black.”  


“We’re in your very own house, why use your nicknames, Sans?” Chara crossed her arms, looking at Mutt. “I know Mutt’s not your real name as well; my father told me, it’s a way of shielding yourself from others?”  


“knowing the real name of someone is a weak spot and can be used to ones disadvantage.”  


“Well, you know my real name and nothing happened to me so far, you didn’t harm me.”  


Mutt stared at her, eye sockets widened.  


“chara is your real name?” he asked for her personal confirmation.  


“It is.” she nodded. “If I want to bring change to the Underground, I may as well start with introducing myself with my name without trying to fool anyone.”  


“... my name is papyrus.”  


Surprise grew in her face, before she smiled. His (true) trust seemingly grew the more time they spent with each other.  


“Nice to meet you, _Rus_.”  


As if someone threw a bucket of paint on Papyrus’ head, his skull changed from bone white to a pale violet tone. Not to mention the sweaty pearls growing with every passing second.  


“Great, Well Done, You Broke My Brother.” Sans growled, facepalming, while Chara giggled at the sight of the embarrassed giant.

“I Have An Idea For Your Coming Journey, To Show My Loyalty Towards The Kingdom And It’s Honorable Family, I Will Personally Upgrade Your Inventory.”  


“Excuse me?”  


“In The Meantime You Should Fullfill The Assignment The Queen’s Consort Gave You.”  


Chara didn’t trust the words of the shorter skeleton, but couldn’t say anything without raising suspicion about her and Mutt’s lie.  


“So, you want me to venture through Snowdin, a place I barely know with people who are willed to kill for lousy XP?” She pinched the bridge of her nose, ending her question with an annoyed sigh.  


“I Believe My Brother Won’t Have Any Objections In Being Your… Attack Dog,” Sans spew his poison right into her face, making her frown. “He Is Obviously After Your Ass, I Guess He’d Protect You Just Right.”  


“hey, i’m right next to you,” Papyrus flicked his brother’s head with his phalanges. “stop assuming the worst about my interest in chara.”  


“I Simply Know You Too Well, Brother.” Sans gathered Chara’s inventory and stuffed it in his own, before strutting out of the kitchen. Rus and Chara looked at each other. Him still in awe about her pet name, her ready to try out if asphyxiation works with skeletons.

  


They left the house quickly after Sans vanished into his bedroom, as Rus had told her, which room belonged to whom. Chara made sure to keep an eye out for a **SAVE** star, just to be absolutely sure. She wasn’t very keen on re-building her current relationship with Rus’ brother. That bone man was one of the difficult, unbearable kind unlike his taller brother.

  


“so, babe,” Rus was quite courageous to start a conversation. “i’d say we go to the townsquare, visit the inn and the shop, as well as mu-.”

  


Before she replied, Chara grabbed Rus’ collar and dragged him behind a not-so-well kept shed next to the skeleton brothers house. She pushed him against the shed wall, the leather collar crunching up under her tight grab.  


“fuck. that’s pretty hot, if I may say so mys-”  


“Why the effing hell, did you tell your brother a lie about me leaving the Ruins?!” Chara blurted out, “And Asgore asked you to protect me? What kind of game did I join, Rus?”  


She was on the verge of tears, angry tears.  


“oh no, babe, please, don’t cry-”  


“What is his plan? What is… i-i-is your, y-your plan - Rus, b-be honest with m-me!” Chara started sobbing and let go of Rus’ collar, only to cower and pull her knees as close as possible to her face. If Asgore ever intended to let her leave freely, how could he kill her so many times before actually doing so? Sure, he didn’t remember the **RELOADs** , even though he expected her quicker with every **RELOAD**. Subconsciously he knew and Chara knew as well. Knowing that Mu- no, Rus and Asgore, her father, had talked with each other and that Rus got the task to protect her, who else had made plans behind her back?

Could she even trust anyone?

The drumming in her ears got louder and her breathing sped up, she tried the exercise her father had showed her, when she had her first panic attack, but without someone showing her to properly breath and the blurred surroundings, Chara couldn’t calm down.

She couldn’t calm down.

She was helpless, useless.

People talked behind her back, family talked behind her back, friends talked behind her back, they didn’t trust her, she trusted them though, was the trust misplaced? Did she do a wrong decision again, did she-

She felt as her body shifted and she sat down on Rus’ lap. He carefully placed a paper bag on her lips, helping her to breathe in an even rhythm.

“shh, babe, ‘tis alright, i’m here, you’re okay.”

After a short struggle, she gave in, accepted his soft fondling with her belly. It helped her calm down so quickly, she didn’t quite understand what happened.  


“... _Papy_?”

“...hah…. yes, sugar?” His chest rumbled behind her, Rus removed the paper bag, storing it into his inventory. For a short second Chara could read it’s description.

**Paper Bag - usually for your breakfast; Asgore said it would help with the Kitten’s panic attacks, so you kept it.**

“Thank you.”

“no prob, i’m here for you.”

Chara felt exhausted and the rubbing of her belly didn’t quite help to spring back into action. Tired, she hid her face in Rus’ neck, luckily cushioned by his sleeveless turtleneck and leather jacket and allowed herself to rest.

“Just…. just five minutes…” she yawned.

“sure, babe, take all the time you need.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot for reading this chapter!!  
> I tried to avoid any grammatical mistakes, if you see some anyway, please ignore them?  
> Since English isn't my first language, I still make occasional mistakes while rushing through a story.  
> In the next two weeks, I have to write my final theoretical exam; I passed the practical one with a good grade and now I am on the finishing line to graduating college! :)
> 
> I really feel inspired to write as much as possible and since I am not averse to procrastinating, you can expect one or two chapters in the next week, until I fall silent again.
> 
> Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter!  
> I try to keep the gore on a minimum, since this is also a Pacifist timeline for Chara...
> 
> Looking forward to feedback ^o^  
> Thanks a lot!
> 
> Ps: I did art! -> https://twitter.com/i/moments/1114856903216173057


	4. adoring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a bit of Rus' POV and smooches! <3
> 
> Mentioning of: Ecto-Tongue , Slight Humilation
> 
> Please proceed with caution, if you do not like to read this!

Mutt couldn’t believe how quickly his life had changed.   
Day in, day out, he had followed his little brother’s footsteps, showed obedience to show their surroundings, that he had a master and that this master was the Leader of the Royal Guard. He had no problem with that. Calling his brother ‘m’lord’, going on a leash like a dog.  
Black was talented, a good fighter. Deadly and swift with his summoned swords and daggers, not a single contestant managed to win against him and Black knew how to train new recruits for the Royal Guard, as soon as he managed to climb up top.

Mutt received the same training.  
Obedience.  
Following orders without asking questions.

And he did it well. He followed orders so well, he earned his new nickname by his very own brother.

But did he truly adapt to his brothers rules? Certainly not.  
Sure, it kept Black satisfied, knowing that his bigger brother was listening to every word he said, respecting him like a servant, not like family.  
For Mutt it was all a way to keep distance to his once close brother, to keep sanity itself safe from possible loss or hurt.

In rare times, he managed to sneak away from his sentry station and take walks to the Ruins exit. 

That is where he met Asgore - almost an eternity ago.

Exchanging simple puns, talking about life’s burdens, updating the Queen Consort over the state of the Underground under the sole Rule of the Queen. 

It was a fresh change to speak with someone casually without fearing for a violent payback.  
Just to mention that he got a whole new view on royalty with the old stories that Asgore told him about his wife and lost family.

At one point, Asgore mentioned another fallen child.  
Mutt had met 6 so far, human children that was. Asgore could never keep them under his care, they were too naive and left the Ruins in a brash escape. Most of them didn’t make it further than Waterfall. He heard that one kid managed to break through to Hotland but lost his life to Bratty and Catty. 

He even killed one of them himself, after Black gave him the order to do so.

“a kid fell?”  
“Yes.” Asgore sighed. “She agreed to stay.”  
A relieved laugh followed.   
“how old?”  
“8.”

 

Mutt sighed.

“you’re gonna raise her?”  
“I won’t leave her alone, she almost died in the Ruins, just to mention, that she’s so… so afraid of everything.”   
“you sure you’re fit for this task? i mean, it’s been a while since you were a father.”

“I’ll probably be a bit rusty,” Asgore agreed. “But I’ll do my best. She promised me to stay, I have to take this promise seriously.”

Clothing shifted behind the door and Mutt turned around to face the violet stone, as if he could see through it.

“Hey, can you promise me something?”   
The voice of Asgore changed significantly.

“depends.”

 

“At one point, she will leave, if I like it or not. Can you keep an eye on her?”  
“me?” Mutt snorted. “asgore, I killed a kid before, how can you trust me with another?”

The caprine monster chuckled.  
A deep baritone sound that echoed through the halls of the Ruins. It reminded Mutt of the rare earthquakes that happened in the Underground from time to time.

“I won’t let her go, until she’s mature enough, that I promise.”  
“you want to let a grown-ass human into the underground?” Mutt couldn’t believe the words of the Queen Consort. “adults are deadlier than anything else--”

“She won’t be violent. I… I hope she won’t, but I will do my best to raise her to a responsible, strong-willed woman.”

“last time you did your best, you lost two children and pushed my brother into depression, _ass_ -gore.” Mutt growled and remembered the disaster from a century ago, as if it had happened yesterday.

“That wasn’t my fault, but if you’re so anti against the Dreemurr royalty, why did you agree to work under my wife’s many, many strings in the Underground?”

Both knew that Mutt had no other choice and the skeleton preferred not to reply with the most obvious fact.

“So, will you?”  
“keep an eye socket out for an adult human? sure, why not.”  
“Thank you, I really appreciate it.” 

Without a goodbye, Asgore left and Mutt sighed.

What did he get himself into?

____

At one point, Asgore and him agreed on meeting each other on the door once a week at the same time. It was manageable for the both of them and gave them something to look forward to when their daily tasks were finished. Since Asgore adopted the human child, the girl was the only thing he could talk about. He swooned over the little creature and its growth and Mutt simply listened.

He knew everything about that kid.

After an seemingly endless shift at his sentry station, Mutt finally reached the door of the Ruins and sat down in the snow. Relaxed as usual, he hit the lithic doors two times, as a signal of his arrival. 

“Who is there?”

Mutt didn’t understand at first what happened in his head, when he heard the female voice behind the doors. She sounded… amazing.  
A deep voice for a girl, sure, but it reminded him of a ripe fruit, well grown, sweet and juicy. 

“ya!” He replied, a bit too enthusiastic.

“Ya who?” She seemed confused.

“Yahoo, who am I talking too?!” 

He turned around, kneeling down facefront to the door.  
A soft giggle reached him and he melted instantly.

“I am Asgore’s daughter.” She introduced herself, confident, proud about her parentage.   
“How may I call you?”  
“name’s mutt.” The male skeleton replied, interested in finally getting to know her name too. “you?”

“Chara.” 

Wow. ‘Chara’ ? - If Mutt wasn’t all too mistaken, it should be translatable in one of the human languages from Above. Was it Greek? Yeah, he could remember that well. She chose a good nickname as a cover up.

“nice name… chara.” He let the name melt on his non existent tongue like a piece of chocolate. her name meant ‘happiness’ - would fit to her whole personality? His curiosity couldn’t be sated with a conversation like this.

“Thanks, I guess.” She replied, clearly understanding his underlying compliment. 

“usually asgore replies to my jokes, didn’t know he had a child.”   
Mutt lied on purpose. He couldn’t reveal the truth, that Asgore had told him everything about the kid. He was a stranger after all.

“I’ve been with him for 7 years.” She had to count the years, he noticed by her short hesitation. 

“hell, that’s a long time. didn’t think he’d adopt a fellow monster.” Would she correct him? Tell a stranger, that she isn’t of his kind?

“Y-yeah, never thought he’d take me in, to be honest. I’m really thankful.”  
Well, would Asgore slap him and call him a bonehead! That goat man did raise the girl well enough to keep her identity safe. He chose not to reply and leaned against the door with his shoulder.

“How old are you?” she asked him, to keep the conversation going.

“not too old, heh.” Mutt replied proudly. “i’m growing towards my 150s!”  
And he was still a bachelor! Many monster his age were already married, had kids or were dusted but he was still going strong and enjoyed his ongoing youth the maximum.

“I just turned 15 last Monday.”  
Mutt froze on the spot. Monster didn’t have something like age of consent - a monster could decide for themselves if they were fit for deeper relationships, most likely that happened around the age 16-18 years. He, on the other hand, knew that humans had other laws and morals and even though he didn’t knew those laws by heart, he knew that she wasn’t an adult yet.

“aww, so young and innocent. i guess fun isn’t something happening often in the catacombs, hm?” Mutt chuckled. “i mean not like you wanna party, you’re literally still a toddler.”  
“Excuse me, I am almost a grown-up!” she replied sourly.  
Mutt laughed heartily, enjoying her feisty behavior, but their fun ended abruptly, when he heard Asgore’s deep voice. 

“Chara?”

 

“Oh no,” he heard her gasp. “Sorry Mutt, gotta go. It was fun talking to someone else but my father.” Her giggle reminded him of little Gyftmas bells. 

“huh?” He turned around again, pressing his phalanges against the cold, lithic door. “sure, uh, cya? will you return? chara?” 

No reply whatsoever and suddenly, he was alone.   
But instead of leaving the Ruins doors, he took his poem book into his hands and started writing.

___

behind the ~~gate~~ doors there it was  
a spark, a flame, an inferno  
would magic itself agree  
that i have no other way  
but to ~~look~~ see?

with the cold surrounding me  
i remember the sadness, the loneliness ~~(fuck, that's edgy)~~  
the scraping of my knees

but her voice  
it was captivating, ripe and clear  
when will her face  
finally appear?

___

And appear it did. Not a second to early. Her beauty did struck him right in his soul, but was mere an addition to the tellings of Asgore and the voice that got stuck in his head like a tape recorder. She was stunning. Her boldness, the cheeky commentary and insults, the protectiveness she showed towards her adoptive father despite him being a stubborn asshole.

Mutt showed his attraction very clear and he didn’t regret a single word he said.   
Her reaction turned every move, every word, into confirmation, that she wasn’t averse to his fondness. 

Everytime she blushed, he _loved_ it.  
Everytime she smelled his jacket, he **loved** it.  
Everytime she smiled, he _**loved**_ it.

Now they sat here, in the shadow of their shed, currently renamed to “torture chamber” by Black. It didn’t take long for her having a panic attack, but Asgore did warn him, that she was really sensitive regarding personal relationships. What did he say again?  
That this was caused by her birth father?

Rus couldn’t suppress the growing wrath in his soul about a man, he didn’t knew, but with the need to kill him anyway. 

Carefully patting the side of Charas head, still rubbing her belly carefully, she finally awoke from her short nap. Five minutes, she said. What a good joke.

“hey sugar.”  
“How long…?”  
“an hour, ‘tis okay though.”

He leaned back to give her some space, allowing her to stretch.  
Some joints popped and cracked and it sent a shiver through his spine.  
“Sorry, boneman, I know you don’t like this sound.”   
“‘tis fine, i guess. can’t do anything about the skeleton in you.”  
She giggled and he melted. 

“Those eye lights of yours,” she patted his lower mandible. “they turn into little hearts.”   
Rus blinked a few times. His eye sockets returning to their normal form immediately.  
“y-yeah?”  
“We barely know each other, why are you so fond of me?”

Well, if that wasn’t blunt and direct! Not knowing what to reply, really, Rus just shrugged with his shoulders.

“know more than you think, remember when we met at the door?”  
She nodded.  
“i said asgore usually replies to my jokes. i spoke a lot with ur dad, weekly.”  
“Ah. And as well as I know my father, he told you everything about me, right?”  
Rus snorted and chuckled.  
“That’s unfair.”  
And stopped immediately, looking at the human, confused.

“why?”  
“I know nothing about you, you have to tell me everything as well, at some point.”  
She shrugged with her shoulders. “Not today. But someday.”

He really expected her to become mad or at least disappointed by the fact, that Rus basically knew everything about her childhood. But apparently growing up with that giant fluffy pushover really did something good with her. As Chara swung her legs over his and kneeled in front of him between his legs, he immediately missed her warmth.   
Oh, he missed it so bad.

“My father kept a lot of ‘wisdom’ from my reach,” she started explaining. “I was able to read a few forbidden books, but to be honest, I don’t know how all of this sexual shit works, that you’re trying to do with me. We’re cross-species after all.”

“reading is nice, but experiencing it is much better.” he replied with a smirk. 

“Knew you’d say that.”   
She threw her arms around his neck, her eyes wandered to his and observed their transformation to this special, almost predatory, look.   
Dark eye sockets and violet eyelights following every single move she did.

With a smile she pressed her lips against his teeth, parting her lips to touch the bone with her tongue. She saw that in an old human magazine once, how women kissed men. Chara didn’t get any further than that kissing scene, because Asgore burned the magazine with an (embarassed) warning. 

She still wondered, why he kept it until she had found it in the stash of books in the living room.

Rus couldn’t believe what was happening. At one moment, he remembered her being a broken little girl, suddenly she was willingly kissing him. He pulled his legs closer, wrapped his own arms around her waist, allowing entrance.  
Chara was surprised when she felt something equally wet meet her tongue. 

It tasted like smoke and syrup. Maple syrup to be exact.

“Let me guess,” she pressed one last kiss on his teeth, whispering her words. “Skeletons conjure a tongue for pleasing matters?”  
“hm... not only tongues.” he replied bewitched by her taste and smell.

She snorted.

“You really don’t know how to be decent.”

Letting go of him, she brought some distance between them but Rus made sure, it wouldn’t last. Chara lost her balance, as Rus carefully pushed her into the cold snow, leaning over her. His eye sockets still pitch black, she feared the worst for a second.  
Did she risk to much, kissing him?

“you can’t imagine how hard it is to keep me from seducing you right here on the spot,” he growled, a soft sheen of violet magic glowing from his mouth. “fuck, you taste amazing…”

His face went deeper, into the crook of her neck, a hot wet sensation spreading over her skin, turning into a bittercold trace. 

“Rus.”  
“yeah, sugar?”  
“I am freezing, get off me.”

He did so, immediately, helping her up. He took the freedom to remove the snow from her back and hair, before giving her his leather jacket again.

“Thanks.”  
“no prob.”

Chara looked at him and couldn’t hold back a soft laugh.  
Rus did the same, her laugh being contagious. When they stopped, he fixed her hair, before offering his arm. 

“m’lord sent us to fulfill our task, no?”  
“That is true.”  
“so, I thought we’d go to the town square, the inn and shop as well as muffet’s.”  
“Sounds good, I always wanted to eat a Spider Donut.”

__

Chara introduced herself to the inhabitants of Snowdin, carefully and with gentle mannerism to avoid scaring them to death. After all she was a human and the monster in the Underground had a few negative encounter with her kind.   
She had a good hand with the kids, played games with them and quickly their parents tolerated her well enough to believe her mission.

It wasn’t her goal to rile the people up against their queen and she couldn’t win the trust of all Snowdiners within an evening.

After visiting the Inn and the Shop, admiring the weapons that the shop offered next to the apple buns, Rus and Chara ended their tour in Muffet’s bakery.  
The spider lady was very interested in the human, Rus put a Spider Donut on his never-ending tab for her. 

“I certainly hope you enjoy this tasty treat, my dearie, ahuhuh.”  
Chara took a hearty bite, smiling. “From Spiders, For Spiders, With Spiders, right? It’s super delicious, but nothing beats the snail pie from my dad.” 

“Ahuhu, oh, dearie, I prefer sweet tarts over salty quiches.”

“That’s fair - the more variety, the better.” Chara and Muffet agreed to meet again the next day, so she could ask the spider lady more questions about Snowdin.

Chara hooked herself into Rus’ arm. The whole time he was wearing his sleeveless turtleneck and collar. She really worried him to feel cold.   
But Black did mention, that skeletons never freeze. 

“It’s kind of weird,” she leaned her face against his bare upper arm. “fully made of bone but still not a real skeleton, they look… fused?”  
“yeah, skeletons vary though.” Rus said. “it’s like human ethnicities - there can be real skeletons, but also ones that look monstrous or very human-like.”   
Chara smiled at him.  
“You and Black are a good compromise. I like your kind the best.”  
“why thank you, sugar. what a compliment.”

She snorted and they entered the house of the skeleton brothers. Sans prepared something in the kitchen, the table already decked in. 

“what’s cookin’, bro?”  
“A 5 Meal Menue For Our Royal Guest!” Sans turned around, wearing a black apron with a giant ‘FUCK YOU’ stitched on the front. “It Will Take Some More Time, Watch Napstablooks Show Or Whatever!”

“Oh, I saw Napstablooks premier a few weeks ago!” Chara wrapped the jackets tighter around her body. “What’ll be sent today?”  
“A Romance Comedy,” Sans gagged. “Disgusting, Useless Waste Of Time.”

“Well, we used our time wisely, the people know who I am, I think Rus and I deserve a break.” Chara took the skeletons hand with a big smile on her face.

“No, He Won’t.” With a knife in his hand, Sans went over to them and Chara let go of Rus immediately, taking a few steps back. “Mutt, Go Up To Your Room, Where You Belong. You Misbehaved Clearly Today, The Only Thing You Are Allowed To Do, Is Rest.”

“... yes, m’lord. thank you for giving me a time-out.” 

Chara smelt a sudden shift in the air, as her friend teleported.   
Mere seconds later did she notice, that she was alone with Sans.  
“What about dinner?”  
“He Will Be Allowed To Eat, Whatever Is Left.”  
“I can bring him a plate with some food, we won’t eat all of this.”  
“You Dumb Woman, Are You Even Listening To Me!”

She looked at him, clearly disturbed about the weird power play between Rus and his brother. Chara didn’t like the degrading behavior that Sans forced on her friend.  
But who was she to put a change or end to it?  
Clearly she wasn’t in the right position to say something.  
But asking Sans wouldn’t do harm, right?

“Why are you treating him like this?”  
“There Are Reasons, If That Is What You Mean.” Sans immediately said. “Reasons That Are Of No Further Concern To You! Now Stop Pestering Me And Watch Your Stupid Show!”

Chara crossed her arms, uncomfortable with the presence of her host.   
How badly would she like to sneak up into Rus’ room, just to check up on him. 

_*Distraction, Chara, Distraction!_

She grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. There was only one channel, since Napstablook got introduced, all other channels were canceled or removed. A bit controlling it seemed, but what else could they send?   
Nothing interesting happened in the Underground, with Napstablook, some form of entertainment was introduced that didn’t include endless speeches from the Queen.

The time passed and Sans called her to the table. He presented the finest food, Chara was prepared, Asgore taught her how to use the different forks and spoons at the table.   
This was clearly a test from the smaller skeleton, to test her ‘royal heritage’.  
Chara did not initiate small talk besides a few compliments to the cook, enjoying the food. As she finished the small custard tart on her plate, Sans grinned at her.

It truly terrified her.

“I Mixed Some… Ingredient Into The Food.” He confessed, still grinning. “It Won’t Kill You, But You Will Be Kept Busy Over Night. A Bit Of Stomach Pain, I Believe It Is Called.”   
“Why?”  
“You Disturbed My Brothers Behavior. He Protected A Human From My Judgement. He Follows You Around And Degenerates To A Salivating Lap Dog In Your Presence.”  
Sans rose from his chair, walking over to Chara, who already felt her stomach rumbling.  
Did the drugs already start their work?

“If You Do Not Reduce Your Influence On Him, I Might Be Forced To Chastise Him Thoroughly, To Make Him Remember Where His Place Is.”  
His phalanges slipped into her hair, grabbing it violently. The pull on her roots made her wince. 

“And You Do Not Want To Know What My Chastising Involves, Human.” Sans hissed, close to her face. He sniffed her cheek, before chuckling deeply.

“Already Marked With His Magic, Hm? Dirty Whore.” 

With a push, he shoved her head away, almost making her hit the sturdy wooden table.   
Chara groaned under the burning pain under her scalp and the gurgling of her stomach, signaling the upcoming pain.

She just sat there, suffering in silence, while Sans cleaned the kitchen, before leaving her. His trails lead him upstairs and he closed the door of his room with a loud bang.  
The smell of freshly polished metal filled the air. It almost made her throw up.

“oh stars forsaken, what did he do?”

He whispered in her ear, bowing down to her suffering appearance.   
“Hey-” Chara replied, turning away to burp. “what did he put into the food?”  
“probably raw green bean powder. nothing that can kill you.” Mutt replied, grabbing her carefully to lift her up.   
“He smelled your magic.”  
“i couldn’t care less.”  
“He said, he’d punish you, if we keep being friends.”  
“he’s a big talker, he hasn’t punished me since becoming leader of the guard.”

 

“Rus?”  
Stars, did he love that pet name, she had gave him. It was so much better than anything else, really.   
“yeah, sugar?”

“Did he ever hit you?”  
“several times.”  
“Why?”  
“for not obeying his orders.”

That’s why he left her so seemingly willingly. He left to avoid punishment.  
But in the end, Rus came back and Chara wrapped her arms around his neck, while he carried her over to the couch.  
“alright, sugar, here is the deal.” She let herself down on the couch, which was comfier than expected. “i got you a good ‘mount of blankets, you’ll snuggle yourself up in ‘em and tomorrow you’ll be good as new, okay?”

“Papy, can you stay a bit?”  
Okay, nevermind, he loved THAT pet name even more than the other one. Stars, a shiver was sent over his spine every time she said his name.

“yeah.” he agreed. “i’ll stay until you sleep, okay?”  
“Sounds good.” Despite the darkness, he saw her smile clearly and covered her cheek with his long phalanges, carefully stroking them to show her his presence.  
She fell asleep.  
He didn’t leave.

He stayed the whole night and left, right before Sans woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, did you notice what i did with papyrus in this chapter? if so, please tell me! :D
> 
> feedback is appreciated! thanks a bunch for reading <3  
> ___
> 
> the cast of "The Biggest Regrets" is available for personal questions! 
> 
> https://www.bis-cvit.tumblr.com/ask


	5. homegrown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is full of relationship building and bit of plot!

It has been 5 days, since Chara arrived in Snowdin.  
5 days of almost zero sleep for Rus.  
He preferred to watch her, while she recharged her batteries.  
He had other ways to do the same. Monster food would help him enough to keep his attention span lively and active. 

5 days of playing with children.  
5 days of bakery dates with Muffet.  
5 days of having talks with the passive aggressive adults of this village, just to appease them. Just to win their trust, that Chara, his little human, wouldn’t harm a single soul.

They got attacked thrice, by monster, who didn’t cooperate, who wouldn’t listen to a single word she had to say. 

She had to **RELOAD** twice and lost significant progress.  
But with every **RELOAD** she managed to lead a smoother conversation, choose better words, evade more fights, evade more violence. 

This ability was scary.

And it scared him, as well.

___

“ALRIGHT. PRINCESS, MY FIRST PREPARATIONS ARE DONE.”  
“First preps? Sa-”  
He looked at her, enraged, his index finger pointing at her like a warning.  
“B l a c k.”  
“Good.”  
“Black, I can’t wait longer. I need to venture forward.”

He lifted his eyebrow (bones?), before pulling out endless masses of fabric from a giant plastic bag. 

“What’s that for?”  
“Tell Me, What You Are Wearing.”  
Chara looked down on herself, as if she had forgotten, what she wore. The clothes … well, they stank terribly. She wanted to ask Sans - or Rus - if they’d allowed her to take a shower soon and wash her clothes. But up until now she had evaded the smaller skeleton at all times. Rus wouldn’t be the problem, but besides his initial infatuation, his looks told her something else. Something unusually negative.

“I am wearing a turtleneck, leggings…. and ankle boots.”  
“Exactly! That’s A CRIME.”  
“A-A crime?”

“Monster In The Underground Wear Clothes With Style! With Elegance! You Don’t Even Wear The Royal Color, Despite Being A Princess!”  
“My father had no single item in violet at home.”

A snort came from the couch.   
“i would ban the royal color as well after banning myself into solitude.”

Chara groaned. “Unnecessary commentary, Rus.”

“His Name Is Mutt!” Sans bleated from the kitchen.

“Stars, please, don’t… don’t start another discussion about his name for fuck’s sake.” 

Chara pinched the bridge of her nose, crossing her arms as Sans walked up to her.   
A measuring tape in his hand and a pencil and piece of paper peeking out of his jackets pocket. But before he stepped closer, his whole face wrinkled up.   
“You Stink.”  
“I know.”  
“That Is Disgusting.”  
“Humans contain of 70% water, at some point, we start to stink, if we can’t wash ourselves.”

He retched and pointed to the door of the bathroom upstairs.  
“Wash Yourself. Now. I Will Not Tolerate A Stinking Human In My Home!”  
“Can I wash my clothes as well?”

“You Won’t Need Them Anymore Sooner Or Later, But Very Well! MUTT!!”  
“not necessary to scream, i am sitting right here, on the coach, m’lord.”  
“ASSIST HER IN GETTING CLEAN.”  
Rus chuckled.  
“mhm~ with pleasure, m’lord.”  
Chara tensed up, turning all red and flustered.  
“NO, NOT LIKE THAT, YOU PERVERT. YOU WILL WASH HER CLOTHES.”

The taller skeleton sighed before putting his poem book aside, stretching his back before walking up the stairs.

“i’ll show you where everything is. you need a shirt?”  
“Yeah.”

Chara followed him, looking at Sans, as he returned to the kitchen.  
Rus vanished into his room, closing the door behind him, returning with a long black shirt in his hand. A white print was on it, exclaiming a big “BAD TO THE BONE”.  
She couldn’t avoid chuckling, a chuckle, that grew even worse as Rus had to duck under the bathroom door to enter the room. Luckily the ceiling was high up enough to tolerate his insane height.

“alright, sweetcheeks, you can use my soaps. they’re in this cabinet.”  
Chara opened it. There was no shampoo (of course, why would skeletons need shampoo, silly?), but the body wash seemed alright to use for the whole body. A glowing, orange medicine bottle stood next to it.

“What’s that?”  
“magical sleeping pills. haven’t slept in a while.”  
“Really? You can join me on the couch, if it helps?”  
“i…” Rus hesitated, his eyes going distant. “i have bad nightmares. i don’t want to wake you.”

Chara grabbed his hand, his attention springing back to her.   
“I don’t care.” she murmured. “I’d chase them away.” 

His eyes changed, little heart eyelights appearing, before she started to giggle.  
It was so damn adorable, when he did that. It almost felt like his emotions taking over his face. “ ‘kay.” he agreed, his eye sockets turning smaller, normal, again. “tonight then.”

He gave her towels and finally left. She turned the lock around, hoping either of the skeletons would respect her privacy for the next 30 minutes.  
Chara really took her time, washing off all the grime and schmoo, bodily fluids were really disgusting at some point, if not taken care of. She did change her underwear regularly.  
Never did she expect sweat and scalp oils to stink as bad as she did now.

The hot water helps her relax fully and Rus’ bodywash smelled… amazingly comforting.

Cleaned and satisfied she put Rus’ shirt on, wrapped her auburn hair into a towel and put a fresh pair of underwear on. Right now, she didn’t really care about a bra, they hurt her anyway, poking into her armpits.

“Rus?”  
“yeh.” He left his room just as she said his name and a cute blush spread on his face as he savoured her looks.  
“If you show me, where or how to wash my clothes, I’ll do that myself.”  
“i’ll do it. i have to do it. m’lord said i have to, so let me.”

Chara hesitated with a nod, feeling a tad uncomfy, knowing that Rus would wash her underwear.

“Fine.”

They went downstairs, Chara grabbed her backpack and they went into the kitchen.   
“Ah, Someone Smells Better!”  
“No shit, Black. I didn’t touch any water or soap for 5 days, humans tend to stink pretty quickly.”   
“Still Don’t Understand, How My Brother Can Be After Your Ass Then.” he scoffed, making Chara groan in annoyance in return.

Rus opened a tall cabinet (it was at least 9 foot tall, almost reaching the ceiling) and entered the room behind it. Chara wondered how many secrets this house could have as she followed him into the laundry room. A faucet at the wall, a big tub and washboard leaned against the wall. Several kinds of fabric softener and detergent were lined up on a shelf above it. On the other side of the room was a dog house with a small, white dog snoring away.

“You have a pet!”  
“ah, well, it more got us, hehe.” Rus chuckled. “it’s annoying. that’s its name, by the way. annoying doge. or toby. toby is alright too.”  
“Aw, cute.”

Chara put all her dirty laundry into the tub, Rus opened the faucet and ice cold water started filling it.

“alright, you can choose between summer freshness, lovely bouquet and icy vacation.”  
“Wha- What?”  
“human detergents have weird names, get used to it.”

She took a smell of every bottle and decided to use “Lovely Bouquet”, as if it would make any difference in the long run. Rus started cleaning the laundry with skilled hands, not caring that it was her underwear. He rubbed the fabric over the washboard with a bristle brush, not leaving out a single spot of dirt.

“had to wash our laundry lots of times.” he explained, noticing her surprised look. “i raised sans, y’know. my mother died early, father was workin’ a lot.”  
“You’re such a great person, Rus, how did Sans turn out like this?”

The skeleton froze at the spot, resting his arms on the tubs rim. His smile grew bitter and he scoffed at her remark.

“please, don’t - i - i am really nothin’ good. don’t patronize me, alright, sweetie?” His stern look on his face made her sigh in defeat. “we all got our package to bear, you got yours, i got mine as my bro got his. he has his reasons for how he acts.”

“I’m still wondering. He covers his altruism under a blanket of bitterness and… and sadness.”  
“sadness?” He looked at her, confused about when Sans ever showed her his ‘sad side’. He never did that. Not around newcomers, not around the Snowdin people. Rarely around him, his own brother. How would Chara know?

“He never cried, if you’re wondering. I never… saw anything else but his stubborn, threatening side.” Chara murmured with a slight grin. “But his aura, I know, it sounds weird, but he’s emanating this aura of sadness and despair.”

Rus looked at her, dumbfounded about her remark. But she got it right.  
Sans wore this homemade coat of stubborness proudly, reinforced by his position as the Captain of the Royal Guard. He hasn’t felt his soul acting up at all for centuries.  
Did Chara’s arrival cause some shifts and cracks?

“doesn’t sound weird at all. souls are a big thing for us monsters, you know that. growing up with asgore… maybe it made you sensitive to our soul waves.”  
“Probably.”

Rus finished the laundry and drained the dirty water afterwards. The wet clothes were hung up nicely on a laundry rack in the room. Chara was surprised about Rus’ unexpectedly chaste behavior. Besides his usually flirty, grabby behavior, he treated her clothing with respect, made no jokes or comedic remarks.

They left the laundry room and Sans stood there, ready as he’d ever be. The measuring tape in one hand again, he advised Chara to stand in the bright kitchen lights. 

“I’LL TAKE SOME MEASUREMENTS AND EQUIP YOU WITH SOME ADEQUATE CLOTHES. YOU CANNOT CONTINUE YOUR JOURNEY WITH THAT GARB OF YOURS.”

“G-Garb? Excuse me, Sir, but my friends in the Ruins knitted that turtleneck, it’s not a garb! It’s a gift!”

“IT’S A GARB. IT’S DISGUSTING, THE COLOR GREEN DOESN’T FIT INTO THE UNDERGROUND AND IT’S HIDING TOO MUCH.”

“m’lord, didn’t knew you had a soft bone for our little princess.”

He hissed at his big brother. “I DO NOT AND I WILL NEVER HAVE ONE. BUT YOU WOULD AGREE THAT SHE SHOULD ACCOMMODATE MORE TO OUR CULTURE, NO?”

Rus nodded, sighed and grinned at Chara, who lifted her arms, as Sans started to take measurements. He wrote everything down on a self drawn chart of a human shape on his piece of paper and as he finished his measuring, he stomped up the stairs and vanished into his room with the fabric. 4 neatly cut out squares of fabric were placed on the kitchen table and Chara observed them thoroughly. The first was a soft, dark wool like square, the second a dark marine blue. The third a heavy-duty fabric, tightly woven, in a dark greyish or black color and a beautiful violet brocade.

“testing out his skills, he learned from hapstablook, i guess.”  
“Who?”  
“an ally of ours. he taught sans how to sew and since then my bro tried real hard to test his new won skills.”

Chara ignored the fact, that Rus avoided the term ‘friend’.   
There wasn’t something like ‘friends’ in the Underground, only allies.   
You wouldn’t expect friends to stab you in the back, quite the contrary with allies.  
Building trust to others was a risky thing here, but Chara trusted Rus. Maybe even Sans to some extent.

In the end one couldn’t bring change to a place like the Underground if she wouldn’t show some change, some difference… some weakness. 

“well, you don’t have any extra clothes, mine are too big for you.”  
“Yeah, the shirt’s enormous.” She lifted the hem a bit to reveal her knees. Rus put his book aside, staring at them. He never thought that kneecaps could look that squishy.  
“And I’m quite tall for a woman.”

“you are?”  
“According to the encyclopedia, human females heights vary from 5 to 6 feet. Rarely taller. Sometimes smaller.”  
“can’t imagine smaller humans. i mean, you’re small.”  
“You must be 8 feet at least. That’s… just insane. No human can grow as tall as you.”

Rus chortled, before turning back to his poem book.

“wow.”  
“Whatcha readin’ ?”  
“german poems.”  
“You understand German?”  
“yeh, i understand some french and spanish as well.”

Chara climbed upon the green couch and squeezed herself into Rus’ embrace, thanking the stars for his magical cushioning body. Otherwise his ribs would poke her badly.

“Could you translate this one here for me?” She pointed at a dialogue.

He chuckled, taking the book in his left hand, while the right arm held her tightly.

“the girl: leave, oh, leave. leave, wild man of bone. am still young, better leave and don’t leave your touch on me.” he translated, less poetic as it probably sounded.

“death: give me your hand, you sweet and tender beauty! i am your friend and ain’t here to punish you. be of good courage, i am not wild. you shall sleep, sleep in my lovely embrace.”

Chara didn’t look at his book, spooning his side and carefully dancing over his collarbone with her fingertips. She smiled, in silence. This poem had way too many parallels to her and him. How and why did she chose that one for translation? She didn’t understand German.  
Was it that famous gut feeling, that everyone talked about?

“Is it just me or does that one…”  
“fit to us? pff- way too obvious, amirite?”  
“Well, I guess tonight you’re sleeping in my embrace, hm? Not the other way around.”  
“who knows,” he teased. “i prefer to be the big spoon.”  
He put the book aside, moving over to the side to underline is statement with an action.  
“Oof, well, preferences have no place on this couch.”  
“how’s that?”

“One kiss for you, if I am allowed to be the big spoon!”

Rus looked at her, blushing, then snorting, before breaking out in laughter.  
“Hey! HEY! Stop laughing! My offer was a serious one!”  
“i know, i know, sugar, oh, jeez-” 

He grabbed her chin with his long claw like phalanges, Chara allowed him leading her to his teeth and she pressed her very own hands against his mandibles to press a smooch on him.  
Her soft lips felt amazing against his bone and Rus couldn’t avoid sighing like a little lovestruck school girl. 

“goodness, you’re bewitching my body and soul-” he whispered, asking for another kiss by opening his teeth slightly, his conjured tongue appearing immediately. “chara-”

“Turn around, hold this bargain.”

“chara.”

 

“No, no more. Turn around.”  
“it’s way too early to go to bed.”  
“You said it yourself! You didn’t sleep at all the past nights, time to catch some z’s.”  
“chara, please, i beg you, just one more smooch-!”

 

She pushed and shoved him around, until his back faced her. Rus whined slightly, until Chara pressed a long kiss on the back of his skull.

“Now, sleep.” 

He chuckled.  
“good night.”

“Good night, Papy.”

___

 **Nightmares.**  
Sure thing, he had them.  
Often, even. Almost every night. Without a break.  
But he hadn’t sleep to keep an eye on her.   
(Maybe to avoid dreaming about death and LVL)  
He didn’t trust his brother to keep his fingers off of her, after the poisoning.   
Sans thought, he wouldn’t know about what he did to his little human, but he **k n e w**.  
Sleeping next to her, wrapped in her embrace, brought sleep and rest in the whirled up magic of his soul. Rus probably hadn’t slept so well before as he did this night.   
At some point, it got warmer and he had noticed his little brother besides the couch in the shadows, putting a thick cover over him and Chara. 

Despite his never ending complains about her influence on him, he didn’t wake them up.

At some point Papyrus slept so tight, he was completely knocked out. Only slight movings under him tugged him out of dreamland and with time, his magic let him open his eye sockets.

He was tightly wrapped around Chara’s soft, squishy body, the side of his face pressed against her chest. Her fingertips caressed his temple lovingly.

“mornin’”  
“Good morning, slept well?”  
“never better.”

 

He snuggled himself, face front, between the path of her breasts, enjoying the light lingering scent of his body wash and her own essence.   
A soft rhythm caught his attention and he pressed the side of his head against her torso, listening to the beat.

“ ‘s that the human heartbeat i’ve read about in poems?”  
“Yes. What about it?”  
He rubbed his face against her one more time before holding still.  
“it sounds nice. we monster don’t have a heartbeat. our souls hum a bit, but only when you focus really hard.”  
“Well, I don’t really want to leave the warm blanket, you can listen to it as long as you want.”

Chara couldn’t believe that they’d cuddle so tightly with each other. His arms were wrapped around her waist and his head pressed against her chest. All she could do was caressing his head and upper arm (those were the only places she could reach) and … wait.  
With time passing, the thoughts in her head went wild. 

Her and Rus did touch in different ways on different occasions, talked a lot with each other, joking around like old friends. She couldn’t really get behind their friendship - it developed into something so intimate and affectionate in such a short time, it didn’t make any sense to her. Her father did say that there are possibilities of romantic love, but in a place like the Underground, a thing like this was rare and most likely never built on true honesty - hell, his own marriage existed on a tragedy. 

If a monster were to show interest in her, it would most likely be for their own benefit.

Chara carefully pushed Rus, without moving him too harshly, signaling to let go of her. He did so without complain and moved aside. 

“you okay?”  
“Yeah, just… I gotta go to the toilet. And look for some food.”

Rus moved back under the blanket, eyeing Chara as she went up the stairs, passing Sans in his uniform. 

As the bathroom door was closed off, Sans’ eyes wandered to Rus.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?”  
“w-what? m’lord, whaddya mean?”  
“SHE LOOKED LIKE SHE’D CRY ANY MOMENT.”  
“i didn’t do anything-!”

The taller skeleton unwrapping himself from the blanket and hurried up the stairs, knocking at the door. 

“chara, are you fine?”  
Deep breaths from the other side of the door.  
“I’m okay, can you let me take a piss in peace without running after me?”

Surprised about her harsh choice of words, Rus retreated, looking at Sans with a confused look. Did his brother lie about her expression? 

No, why would he?

“m’lord-”  
“She Looked Sad, Don’t Question Me.”  
“i didn’t… i - ugh, whatever.”

Sans and Rus went downstairs into the kitchen and the taller skeleton decided to prepare some chocolate pancakes. He knew Chara liked chocolate a lot, Asgore told him to keep little pralines in his inventory ‘for emergency cases of emotional distress’ or to simply please the girl. Surely her mood would become a lot better with them.

As Rus put two plates on the table, Sans grabbed himself two, freshly baked pancakes and wrapped them in paper towels, before leaving for work. He still had to get his job as Captain done and the K9 unit was in need of some leading. 

While he worked, Rus had the task to have an eye on the human. To protect the citizens or her from violence in any case. 

Chara appeared in the kitchen, her terrible wet-hair-in-towel-after-some-sleep- style completing the look with the oversized shirt. “Sorry, Rus, didn’t want to sound so rude.”  
“ ‘tis okay. m’lord said you looked sad when you passed him, i just… got worried for a sec.”  
“Yeah, sorry. I had some weird thoughts when I woke up. But I’m all good now.”  
“you wanna talk abo-”  
“No. No, thanks.”

He looked at her, hoping he could read what she was thinking about, but she simply stared back with a blank look on her face. A perfect poker face.  
“Father tried to read my thoughts once as well, he never tried again.”  
“summoned your soul?”  
“Hm.”  
“i won’t violate you like that, i promise.”

He didn’t need that anyway. As Chara turned away to tidy up the couch, he activated his recovered magic, **CHECK** ing her stats.

Chara - LVL 1 - 20/20 HP   
*She questions your relationship and your true motifs towards her.

Rus ended the **CHECK** as soon as she returned and served hot, fresh chocolate pancakes for breakfast. She thanked him and, finally, smiled slightly, as she enjoyed the food.

“They are delicious. Thank you, Rus.”

“you’re welcome, dear.”

“I hope you won’t ask for any payment for your hospitality one day. I have exactly 30G in my pockets.”

“i’ll ask the Queen, when you freed us.” he said with a grin and swallowed a pancake wholly.   
She has been fascinated by the way how magic converted physical food to energy with zero effort. 

“Sure you do. as if you’d know Queen Toriel. Are you friend with every Royal in the Underground?” she asked sarcastically.

“who knows?” 

Her slight smile turned into a slight frown, as if she wasn’t satisfied about his unclear reply. He couldn’t be completely honest. 

He just _couldn’t_.

“I will check if the clothes are dry.” She rose from her chair and vanished into the laundry room, leaving Rus behind. 

Why did she start to question them?  
Did he do something wrong?

__

Luckily the clothes were dry and Chara collected the laundry and put the clean turtleneck and leggings on immediately. She left Rus’ shirt in the tub and packed with her underwear, she returned to the kitchen. The table was clean and the rest of the pancakes neatly wrapped up in saran wrap on the kitchen counter. As usual, Rus laid on the couch, but not reading his poems book. The TV showed a broadcast message from the _Queen_.

“What is she talking about?”  
“nothin’ good.”

“... current sightings in the outskirts of Snowdin of a human ask for greater defense and your support.” 

Queen Toriel sat on her throne, golden flowers grazed the throne room and artificial sunlight glittered through the stained glass windows in a thousand colors. 

“Any citizen of the Underground that reports sightings or whereabouts of the intruder, shall be rewarded with _150g and magical supplements for a week_. Helping to capture the human and delivering them to the capital will be rewarded with an official swear into the Royal Court of New Home!” She lifted one of her paws, striking a very imposing, commanding pose.

“Remember, my dear children! Only one soul it is we need for our freedom! **One**!”

Black and White Noise danced over the television screen and Chara stared at it in shock. She turned to Rus and even the tall skeleton showed signs of anxiety deluxe.

“oh fuck,” he said. “oh fuck, you’re in so much trouble.”  
“Excuse me, you’re in trouble, too! Snowdin knows you kept me as a guest not as a prisoner!”  
“we can deal with the repercussions, just-!”

The front door was slammed open and Sans entered the house, stressed, out of breath and with a look of pure horror on his face.

“DID YOU-!”  
“yes.”  
“Yes!”

“YOU NEED TO LEAVE!”  
He ran put his hand against his chin, thinking hard about her coming escape.   
“I- I Almost Finished The Prep … Give Me Thirty Minutes.”

Sans smashed the door closed, before hurrying upstairs. He even left the door to his room open and all Chara heard was the rhythmic sound of the sewing machine. She got dressed and prepared her backpack, Rus handing her the stuff she’d need for her journey.

“Stars, I wonder who told her.”  
“we won’t know until we face her.”

“ _We?_ ”  
She looked up.  
“ _we._ i will accompany you. i promised your father to keep an eye on you, remember?”

“My father is a madman in self inflicted solitude, why do you want to keep a promise you made years ago, risking your own life?”   
“i’m really fond of you chara, haven’t you noticed?” he put his hand on her shoulder but she pushed it away.

“Oh, I did notice you **touching** me, that I did!”  
“chara, _what_ is wrong? why won’t you tell me what’s buggin’ you?”

 

She remembered her father’s words and sighed in defeat, turning away from him.

“Just… let me be. I can manage this journey, I can travel to New Home and face the Queen on my own.”

“chara-!”  
“Shut up, Rus!”  
“no, you shut up, you stubborn swamp hag!” 

She turned around, surprised, insulted, gasping for air like a fish out of water.  
“Say that again, I dare you-!”

“you. are. a. stubborn. swamp. hag.”

She threw herself on him with a cry of hurt and pent-up frustration.  
“I am _NOT_ a _SWAMP HAG_!”

Rus held her arms tight, forcing her not to hit him for realsies.  
“you certainly act like one right now!”

“I DO NOT!”  
“oh yes, you do, chara dreemurr and you know it!”

Again crying out of frustration she pushed him over on his back and straddled his waist, still trying to hit him, but without any success. Rus was simply too strong and held her back with ease. She tried, she really did … until the tears started to flow.

Relieved about the display of emotions, he eased his grip on her wrists and watched her as the tears rolled down her cheeks, down on her turtleneck. It didn’t take long until she covered her face with her hands and he hugged her, holding her close, _so close_.

“what’s wrong, sugar?”  
“You wouldn’t understand-”  
“then try to explain it to me. maybe i will then.”

She forced her tears to stop running and accepted a tissue from him, cleaning her snotty nose. After calming down a bit, she accepted his hug, hiding her face from the world in the crook of his neck. Even though there was not much time left until she had to leave Snowdin, Rus decided to take the time to calm her down.

She told him, what her father taught her.   
That love and affection had no place in the Underground and that any monster, no matter who, would never love her without getting some kind of benefit for them out of it.  
She understood, since he was the Queen’s consort and he adopted her - she was a Dreemurr princess. No one would love her for being just ‘Chara’.

People would love her for being a Princess and not knowing anything personal about Rus made her think the worst about their growing adoration.

“hey, look at me.”  
Unwillingly leaving the tight embrace, she leaned back, looking at him. His long phalanges caressed her cheek and lips.

“i couldn’t care less that you’re asgore’s kid. i like you for who you are, chara. you’re a feisty, but kind-hearted human, determined to free the underground. why admiring you only for your status as a princess, if there’s so much more.”

“And you’re not lying?”

“i don’t have a single reason to lie while looking you into the eyes. what advantage would i gain?”

Chara smiled sadly.

“My _vulnerability_.”

 

“I AM DONE!” Two feet in heavy boots stomped down the stairs and Chara helped Rus to stand up. They looked at each other for a few seconds, before Sans presented his _journey preparation_. She didn’t let go of Rus’ hand. She couldn’t. She didn’t want to.

“Please Let’s Go Upstairs, Human. I Need To Check If The Corset Fits.”

“corset?!” Rus stared at his brother. “you made a whole corset for her?”  
“YEAH, I KNOW SHE WILL TAKE GOOD CARE OF THE CLOTHES I WILL GIFT HER QUITE THE CONTRARY WITH YOU.”

Rus growled slightly, a tad of envy growing in his soul, until Chara patted his cheek carefully.  
“Calm down, I’ll be right back.”

She followed Sans upstairs, he left the door open just to reassure his brother in not doing anything to his precious little human plaything.

“Please Take Off The Pullover.” Chara hesitated, before doing so, hiding her upper body with the green turtleneck. “I Won’t Harm You.”

“You did once already.”

 

“It Was Just Some Stomach Pain, Nothing Serious.”

“What for exactly?”

“To Test Your Motivation Towards My Brother, Of Course.” He scoffed, reaching out with his hand to take the pullover. “I Cannot Dare To Lay Him Bare Open To Someone Like You.”

“You… want to protect him?”

“Like He Protects Me. Yes, Of Course. He Is The Only Family I Have Left.”

Sans pressed the front of the corset against her chest and Chara did the same after he advised her to do so. He turned to her back and tied the golden lace of the corset as tightly and professional as possible. With every tug, Chara felt the fabric tighten around her chest.

“Don’t Be Surprised, I Will Open The Hooks Of Your Bralette. Please Remove It When It’s Open, So I Can Fasten the Corset Tighter.”

Chara threw the bra to the turtleneck on the ground. When Sans returned to face her, he nodded.

“Almost A Perfect Fit, I Did A Good Job.” He said proudly, more to himself.   
“That Should Do. I Guess My Brother Will Like The New Look As Well.”

Chara eyed her cleavage. It was pushed up into a well shaped pair of buns, held together by the steel-boned corset. 

“It’s surprisingly comfy.”

“And Since You Can’t Run Around In A Corset, I Made a Homemade Coat Just For Your Travels.”

He presented the black coat, lined with violet brocade and helped her put it on. When Chara observed herself in a long mirror behind Sans’ door, he tied a violet cloth around her upper arm.

“What’s that for?”  
“It’s The Royal Color. And It Belonged To My… Mother. It’s A Sign To Other Monster To Keep Their Hands And Paws Off Of You. They’ll Think You Belong To My Brother.”  
“That feels like a collar.” she remarked, earning a scoff from the smaller skeleton.  
“Be Glad It’s Not An Actual Collar, You Ungrateful Prick.” he hissed and crossed his arms. 

Chara smiled softly, before wrapping her arms around Sans’ neck, forcing him into a hug.

“Thank you. For everything, even if you poisoned me. I’m glad we worked this out.”  
“JUST DON’T FUCK THIS UP. AND DON’T TELL PEOPLE I HELPED YOU OR I WILL BE PUNISHED FOR TREASON.”

Pressing a quick peck on his skull, she collected her clothes and went downstairs, just to be pinned against the wall immediately. Her wrists were caught in a tight grip and a translucent, glowing tongue appeared in her field of sight.

“fuck, i’d love to open that package to see the gifts underneath.”  
Rus’ whispered into her ear, dancing over her pushed up breasts with his claw-like fingertip. Chara’s blush grew with every passing second. Her eyes wandered from his phalanges to his face and his eye sockets were deep and dark, small little pinpricks of light following the curves of her cleavage. She couldn’t deny that this predator-mode (as she liked to call it) suited him well and she liked it. _A lot_. Even if she couldn't explain why, she felt all tingly inside, when he turned like this.

“FOR FUCKS SAKE STOP BEING A PERVERT FOR **ONCE** AND LEAVE THE QUEEN CONSORT’s DAUGHTER ALONE!” Sans stood on the fourth step of the stairs, complaining against Rus’ grabbing.

“you’re the one to talk, m’lord! i wasn’t the one who _fucked_ the crown princess!”

Chara’s eyes grew in size, almost like Rus’ eye sockets did, when he was excited and she looked at Sans.

His eye lights were completely gone, like extinguished little sparks. Instead magenta colored tears grew, his whole body started to tremble with… loss, sadness, despair - **WRATH**.

“YOU DID NOT… JUST SAY THAT, YOU DIRTY, WORTHLESS MUTT-”

“oh shit, m’lord - m’lord, i’m sorry.” 

Rus let go of Chara, taking a few steps back, as Sans’ choice of weapon - the sword made of bone - appeared in his hand. Wary of the danger, Chara grabbed her backpack.

“You knew Frisk?”

Sans' eyelights reappeared, staring at her confused and dumbfounded about her sudden comment.

“ **HOW** DO YOU KNOW HER NAME?”

Chara smiled.

“... She misses you, Sans.” A sudden rush of emotions entered her mind, longing, the want for redemption, _the biggest regrets_ ever made.

“And she never forgot you either.”

Confused about her own remarks, she grabbed Rus’ hand. Smiling at the taller skeleton. 

“Let’s go.”

A nod from him and he teleported them out of the house, leaving the Captain of the Royal Guard alone with his thoughts.


	6. temperate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rus and chara stroll into waterfall....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the awesome poem, you'll read in the beginning, was written by sinnabee!  
> thank you so much for sharing this awesome piece of poetry with me <3

sometimes when my soul aches  
and i stare up at the same prison i’ve always stared at  
and i look down on the same ground that i’ve always looked down on  
and i scorn all the beautiful things that might grow and try to be better  
gods, at least be better than me.

i wonder, why i always write poems about flowers.

__

“I can’t believe you did this-” Chara ran after Rus, trying to catch up to his pace. “Your brother will give the command to hunt us down.”  
“he won’t.” Rus stopped, turning around. “you better tell me, what’s up with that remark you did, about frisk missin’ him? that girl has been dead for a hundred years, you weren’t even born when she…”

“Well, I know, she’s dead, when I fell down, I fell onto her grave.”

“wow… that’s morbid, even for me.”

“And…” Chara hesitated, staring into the emptiness.

 _‘Should I tell him?’_ she asked herself. _‘Is it safe enough to tell him?’_

_*Do you trust him?_

_‘To a certain extent. I know, he is still hiding something from me.’_

“chara?”

“Huh?” She looked at him like a deer in headlights. “Sorry, I…” Chara pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing deeply. Still indecisive, she shook her head.

“I can’t really explain, why I had the need to tell Sa- Black, that Frisk misses him. Maybe I acted out of reflex to avoid violence? Maybe I wanted to console him? If he ‘fucked’ the crown princess, as you said, they were close, right?” Crossing her arms, she looked at Rus, who didn’t seem to be very satisfied with her reply. “Hey, even if I might know the answer to my behavior – don’t we all keep things to ourselves?”

“yeah.” A sigh fled his mouth, before he put his right hand on her shoulder. “let’s go, sugar. the quicker, the better.”

Agreeing in silence, she followed him into the crystal covered cave of Waterfall. Her hands touched the growing, glittering crystals and stalagmites they passed, admiring the different shades of colors they reflected. Little streams of water broke through some walls, creating a breathtaking view of rainbow-colored reflections and deformed limestone.

“the water’s quite deep here, c’mere.” Rus grabbed her by the hips and positioned his arms right under her buttocks while stepping through the cold water of the stream, leading into an endless pit of darkness. Blocks of ice followed the stream, making it difficult to navigate through the water without being hit. Rus managed quite well though and soon they reached the shore. His height was good for something besides the kitchen counter. The water barely reached the mid of his shins.

“Thanks for the ride.”  
“anytime, kitten.”

“Kitten? A new nickname?” she asked him with a grin on her lips, wondering from where he got the idea to call her like that.

“yeah, i call you sugar, because you love the spider donuts from muffets and… chocolate,” he emptied his boots from water before slipping back into them. “back when i… observed your _goods_ , i heard your soul purr, like a kitty.”

“Well,” Chara blushed slightly, looking down on the ground, hiding her smile. “I might be quite fond of the way you look, when you see something you like.”

“oh?” Rus cupped her cheek with his hand, carefully caressing her cheekbone. “i think you got me good, kitten, i do like what i see.”

With a shiver of a breath, she lifted her head to greet his kiss, but drew back, as she saw a shadow above the edge of the path they were walking on. Quickly recognizing it as Sans’ silhouette, she pulled Rus with her into some high grown grass. The air around the grass tasted salty and felt humid.

“I HAVE BEEN AWAITING THE DAILY REPORT FOR ALMOST AN HOUR NOW,” Chara heard Sans’ voice bleating from above them. He talked to someone, but she couldn’t see, who it was.

“’bout the human?” Sans’ conversation partner had a female voice, but it sounded rough, almost strained with a slight dialect. “no sightin’s whatsoever in Waterfall, we’re guessin’ they’re still in Snowdin.”

“NOT POSSIBLE. WE SEARCHED EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY AND THEY’RE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND.”

“We’ve been already tryin’ our best efforts to find…”

“THEN TRY HARDER, FOR TORIEL’S SAKE.”

“Sure. As you wish, Commander.” The voice replied, grinding their teeth to hold back an unnecessary commentary. “Is there anythin’ else?”

“NO. CONTINUE YOUR WARD. AND DON’T KEEP ONLY ONE EYE OUT FOR THE HUMAN. TRY TWO.” Sans said, spitefully.

“Who’s that?” she whispered to Rus.  
“name’s alphys, she’s the second in command to m’lord.”

Heavy steps approached closer to the edge of the high pass and Chara held her breath, looking up carefully. A magical, glowing axe was aimed dangerously to the exact position where Rus and her were watching out for Alphys. A few seconds of anxiety and fear passed, as Alphys let the axe vanish and disappeared into the shadows of the high pass.

They crawled out of their hiding spot, still tense over the sudden, deathly threat.

“WOAH!” A kid’s voice appeared next to them. “THAT WAS SO BADASS!!! SHE ALMOST AIMED AT ME BUT SHE AIMED AT YOU!! What did you do, to get her attention?!”

A little raptor monster without arms, hopped around them, swooning about the fact that Alphys just threatened them. Chara couldn’t be mad, of course a strong monster in the Royal Army would have fans, who’d idolize the violent ways of law enforcement.

“Who are you?”  
“Yo! My name is MK!” He turned around, so Chara could grab his tail and shake it as if it were a handshake. “Woah! Aren’t you the sentry from Snowdin and Waterfall?” He stared at Rus, who was silently observing his surroundings, looking out for danger.

“yeah, name’s Mutt. nice to meet ya, kid.”  
Chara turned around to face him, but before she could correct his name, he pinched her butt.  
“Don’t do that infront of the kid!” she hissed, slapping away his hand. Rus chortled playfully, pressing his head against hers.  
“Aren’t you one of the kids from Snowdin?” she asked MK.  
“Yeah, we played catch yesterday, right?” He grinned at Chara. “Playing games was so much fun, my friends and I haven’t had so much fun in weeks – no – months!”

Chara smiled about his excitement.  
“I’m glad we were able to play then. Kids shouldn’t be afraid to go outside and play.”

Presenting a broad, toothy grin with a gap, the kid wiggled before jumping around again.

“C’mon!” he sprinted on the spot, lifting his legs in a rapid motion. “let’s catch up and watch Alphys beat up some bad guys!”

He ran, tripped, landed on his face, which made Chara worry and raise from the ground, before he got up on his own and hurried forward. Quickly the dimmed lights of Waterfall swallowed his silhouette and he was nowhere to be seen.

“what a cute kid, just like you.”  
“Excuse me, did you just call me a kid?”  
“yeah, you’re pretty young in contrast to my proud 152 years, kitten.”  
She chuckled.  
“That is true, but if that’s the case, you’re the only one allowed to call me that.”  
“with pleasure, kid.”  
Chara couldn’t avoid a slight chuckle, when he said it with a smile.  
“People will get the wrong impression, when you, a grown-ass monster, call a human female, ‘kid’, which you fancy in just more than one way.”  
“most monster don’t grasp the concept of humans and their age and it’s not of their concern, how I call my date mate.” he shrugged her concern off, as if it were nothing important to think about.

Chara looked at him, stunned, surprised, overwhelmed? Did he just call her his ‘date mate’? As in _‘girlfriend’_?

“Your… what?”  
“… _d-date mate_?” he hesitated to answer to her question, the blush on his skull increasing with every second she continued to stare at him.

“We’re… _date mates_?”  
“i… i thought so? aren’t we?” Insecurities grew in Rus as he tried to withstand her piercing looks.  
“Rus,” she whispered his name, stepping closer to him. “… we never talked about being together.”

He kind of expected that reaction. But after all the touching, kissing, cuddling, he was so sure, that they were, in fact, _date mates_.  
“chara, I’m sorry, I thought, we… us… I really thought we were equally interested in… this. after all the kisses and hugs… and the touching… i- i’m sorry for… misunderstanding?”

Chara looked at him, lost for words.  
“I am, I…” she crossed her arms. She wasn’t mad at him, no, not at all. Just surprised. Maybe a bit overwhelmed. She did feel safe around him, not afraid of showing, that she liked, what they did from time to time. “… I’m just a bit overwhelmed is all.” 

But was it just because of physical interest in each other?  
She liked the touching between them, but weren’t relationships for the purpose of honesty and interest in each others whole being?  
Confusion filled her mind, but she couldn’t just deny the fact, that she adored every single moment of physical contact between them.  
No wonder, Rus thought, they were together. She willingly accepted and returned everything he did to her.

Maybe with given time, whatever was between them, would grow and become stronger?

Grabbing his leather collar, she pulled him lower to her height and pressed a long smooch on his golden canine, smiling at him. “We gotta communicate a bit more about stuff like that, alright?” He nodded slightly, his grin morphing into an awry smile. “I’d love to be your _‘date mate’_ , Papyrus.”

He exhaled, a cold rush of relief easing his worries that filled his mind. She actually agreed!

After letting him go, Chara walked over to the golden **SAVE** star, that she noticed right after leaving their hiding spot.

_*Accepting the confession by the one, that would give his life for yours, fills you with determination._

### *SAVE

Why did this remark scare her so badly?  
Did her soul know her better than she admitted? 

Rus wrapped his arms around her, sighing against her hair.  
“stars, I think I already developed a crush on you, when I first heard your voice behind that door.”

Chara didn’t really understand the true meaning behind ‘Love’ - she knew what LoVe meant, thanks to the homeschooling she had to endure by her father. But this ‘true love’ thing was normally a thing of fictional stories and movies. Right?

“… I suspect, since you talked a lot with my father through said door, you knew I was human?” She ignored his further detailing of his confession of his feelings towards her.

“...yeah, i knew.” he confessed with a low voice, snuggling her even harder, pressing the malleable bone against her hair.

More and more little truths were coming to light, Chara wasn’t annoyed, actually. She was relieved to know that Rus opened up to her. She told him a lot about herself and he knew things about her, that she couldn’t remember at all. Little details from her childhood with Asgore.

They ventured forward and saw another stream, flowing down into the abyss. Rus went around the corner and returned with a Bridge Seed. 

“if you align four of these, they’ll bloom.”  
“Ah, we have to make a bridge with them?” She asked and he nodded. “they’re creating strong roots as soon as they’re in the water, strong enough to withstand the water’s force. pretty interesting.”

Chara grabbed two of the seeds, while Rus got himself the last one. They dumped them into the water, shoving them with a good push to the other side. Within a few seconds the bridge seeds were blooming and helping them go across the stream. 

Wary of her surroundings, she noticed the presence of another monster, as she approached another bridge. A buff, muscular seahorse monster got closer, hovering above the ground a bit. His short fur was black, while anthrazite hairs put accents on his toned body. His sweat glistened in the reflective lights of the cave. And he got closer. Too close. 

“Hey, sugar bunny, whatcha doin’ in Waterfall?” He winked at her, obviously flirting. Chara took a step back. “never saw u before, can’t believe we got a sexy monster like you wanderin’ around a place like this.” 

Another _wink._

“Hey, would you kindly let us pass?” she asked, ignoring his obnoxious behavior. 

“Whatcha payin’ me?” _Wink._

 

“Excuse me?”

“Nuthin’ without a price tag, hm? Me movin’ out of the way? So it‘ll cost you.” He winked again, it would become one of Chara’s future pet peeves, clearly.

“I don’t really… understand? There’s like zero effort for you to move aside and let us pass. Are you a bridge troll, or what?” Aaron snorted, throwing his head back while laughing. It sounded faked, as if he tried to appease her.

“Aw, sugar bunny, please, all I’m trying to do…” 

Chara felt the sudden drag on her soul, being thrown into a **FIGHT.**

“... is get some free **EXP**.”

Chara turned around and grabbed Rus’ hand to drag him into the combat. He stumbled forward and both watched, as the cave lost its colors and reflections were even dimmer than before. Her soul was summoned and the **HUD** appeared with it.

“Haven’t missed that user interface…” she murmured and decided to use *CHECK.

**Aaron** \- 7 **ATK** \- 2 **DEF**

_*This seahorse has a lot of HP (Horsepower). His attacks can be best evaded with ducking and jumping._

Chara wondered why exactly **CHECK** ing Aaron gave her such a clear solution to win this confrontation? The **HUD** vanished and Chara’s attention snapped to her opponent, who striked some serious bodybuilding poses, sweating and sweating… and sweating.  
A bit to late did she notice that the sweat drops fused together and were aimed at her.

“ **CHECK** all you want ;)” he called.

A few drops hit her soul and she felt as the magic infused sweat drained her **HP**.  
Groaning under the burning sensation, she felt the support of Rus helping her to keep the **FIGHT** up.  
“kitten-”  
“It’s okay, it’s alright.” She huffed, trying to keep balance without his support. “I’m here to bring peace into the Underground, right? I just… need to focus a bit better.”

She chose **ACT** and had the choice between **FLEXING** and **FLIRTING**. For Chara, the second option wasn’t viable and so she took her coat off to flex her non existent biceps.

Aaron flexed twice as hard, admiring his own muscles.  
Chara observed him and evaded his upcoming attack with ease, his fists missing her soul completely. 

“ **FLEX** ing contest? Alright, go on, flex more ;)” He replied to her, initiating another flex. 

On and on they went, flexing and comparing, evading all his attacks.  
At some point Aaron **FLEX** ed himself out of the room, floating close to the cave’s ceiling, which ended the **FIGHT**. 

Chara watched the seahorse go, while Rus helped her to put the coat back on. 

“managed that FIGHT quite well, i’m impressed.”  
“That’s how I befriended monsters in the Ruins. At some point I was the coolest kid around and my clique was bigger than anyone else’s.” Chara grinned at the skeleton and he replied with a chuckle.

“imagining that is quite the experience.”

Befriending other monster in such a positive and pacifist fashion was certainly a favourite in her surroundings. No matter how well she knew the monster, experiencing her way of ending **FIGHT** s, sometimes she felt like a puzzle piece in the wrong place.

_*Chara._

“...chara?”

_*Chara, snap out of your thoughts. STOP IT._

“kid?”

She felt a tiny drag on her thoughts, as she heard the name Rus had given her. With a slight smile, she looked at him before hugging him tightly. 

“Sorry, I kinda spaced out for a moment.”  
“yeah, i noticed that, kitten.”

Relaxed, she sighed into his turtleneck, she enjoyed the hug they shared, before crossing the bridge. They entered a giant cave, adorned with more reflecting crystals, little waterfalls, streams and glowing mushrooms. 

“It’s so incredibly beautiful here,” Chara observed the unusual surroundings with interest. “I could stay here forever.”

“can’t do that, you still gotta task at hand, right?” Rus placed his head on hers, leaning against her from behind. “we can stay a short while and return, when you’re done, i guess.”

With a theatrical sigh, she wrapped her arms around his waist again and his pocket started to ring like crazy.

He took the device into his hand and pushed a button.

“MUTT.”  
“oh, hey, m’lord.”  
“I WANT TO SPEAK TO THE HUMAN.”

Rus shrugged with his shoulders as if his brother could see his uncaring attitude and gave his phone to Chara, who stared at the device as if it were the most dangerous pest on this planet.

“What do I do with it?”  
“you hold it against your, uh-, ear and listen what m’lord has to tell you.”

Dumbfounded, she did as he said and listened.

“say hello.”  
“Hello?”  
“HUMAN!” Sans’ voice hurt her ear, so she held the device at a bit of distance. “I MUST APOLOGIZE FOR MY HOSTILITY AND MAKING YOU LEAVE SO ABRUPTLY.”  
“Oh, uh, Black, it’s alright. It was a weird situation with the mentioning of Fr-”  
“ _Please, Don’t._ ”

Suddenly his voice became quieter, softer. “ _Please_ , Don’t Say Her Name.”

“Are you begging me?”  
“NO, I AM COMMANDING YOU NOT TO.”

Chara grinned, before snorting.

“Alright, Commander. What is it, that you want from me?”

 

“I MET MY SECOND IN COMMAND AND MADE HER SEARCH HARDER FOR YOU.” he said. “BUT I GAVE HER AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT DESCRIPTION, THAT YOU’RE A CHILD IN STRIPES AND NOT A GROWN WOMAN LIKE THE NEWS SAID.”

“And… Alphys is dumb enough to believe that.”

“She Is Dumb Enough To Understand That I Am The One In Command And That My Word Is Law.” He said, preposterous as always. “Wait, How Do You Know Her Name?”

“Rus told me, how she’s called...”

“MUTT.” He corrected her. “So You Were There?”

 

“yeah, we heard everything, m’lord.”  
“Tell The Mutt To Shut Up.”

 

“Your brother wants you to be quiet.”

 

“that’s still my phone.” Rus murmured and turned away, removing himself from Chara a few steps away.

“Is there anything else, you want to talk about?” Chara offered, no ulterior motif in mind.  
“How Do You Know About Her?”

Chara hesitated. Rus was far away enough, but would it be alright to tell Sans, what she kept secret from her very own… well- he was her boyfriend now, right?

“I’m afraid, I can’t tell you yet.” She said, breathing in and out deeply. “It’s not like I don’t want to tell you, but… you will get to know how and why I know about her.”

“VERY WELL, I WILL KEEP THIS IN MIND AND PESTER YOU UNTIL YOU WILL TELL ME. GOODBYE HUMAN, TAKE CARE.”

A long beeping sound was probably the sign to return the device and Rus accepted it gladly. “Your brother can be so lovely, if he tries really hard.” Chara said with a grin and Rus snorted.

“sure thing, kitten. he can, if he wants something for his own benefit.”

Another bridge seed riddle awaited them and this time, it actually took a moment to solve it. While Chara pushed the seeds and reset them again, Rus relaxed in a little crystalline alcove, observing her closely. He avoided helping her and respectfully did not backseat game her in any way. As the bridge seeds bloomed, she cheered and waved him closer.  
With a groan, Rus left his place of coziness and followed her.

Just as they intended to leave the crystal cave, tiny taps scurried closer to them and a small monster, resembling a very dirty snowglobe, tried to present itself as a danger.

“Oh, hello!” Chara looked at the monster, who replied with a sharp hiss. “Yeah, nice to meet you too.”

“know what you are! yes, yes!” The monster growled. “you are the human the queen talked about!!! i will capture you and bring you to the capital!” 

'Deep breaths, Chara!' she thought to herself. 'The encounter with Aaron happened not too long ago, if you could manage the stud, you could surely manage this walking snowglobe.'

A drag on her soul started the encounter. This time, she wasn’t quick enough to drag Rus into it and faced her opponent on her own.

**SLOTHSHUA** \- 7 **ATK** \- 1 **DEF**

*This humble mysophilia ridden creature seeks to pollute the whole world.

“being dirty is the only way of living!”

Slothshua’s globe-shaped body opened up to spread a gush of smelling mud around the battlefield. Chara evaded the attack completely but it was difficult to not slip on the gooey residue that covered the limestone path beneath her feet. 

Evading more and more mud attacks became a strain at some point and Chara did not know what to do, to end the fight in a peaceful way. 

“Holy stars below and above, what do you want?!”

“YOU’RE TOO CLEAN!”

Slothshua screamed and sent another gush of goo in Chara’s direction. At this point, she noticed, that this monster wasn’t after her capture anymore. It’s compulsive need to dirty it’s surroundings seemed to change it’s goal for this fight.

Chara took a deep breath and contemplated, about moving out of the way, as the muddy mixture of goo hit her from top to bottom. The smell was excruciating and made her retch and gag, her soul being damaged just a tiny bit, she fell to her knees. 

“Ugh, this is disgusting!”  
Chara, covered in muddy goo, looked over to Slothshua. This star forsaken monster kind made it it’s task to spread it’s personal mix of dirt goo on random people. Unlucky Chara of course **HAD** to meet this monster just shortly after pacifying Aaron beforehand. The monster in front of her fled the crimescene, frightened by the glowing red eyes of his encounter.

“Yeah, you better run, you wretched piece of garbage!” She wiped a thick glob out of her face and growled as a deep chuckle gave unnecessary commentary to her current situation. Just now did Chara notice, that the FIGHT was ended by Slothshua and the cave returned to its bright and vibrant colors.  
“lil’ fella got you pretty good, eh?” Rus stomped in front of her and bowed down to look the human right in the eye. “I mean, it could be worse… like Aaron’s sweat.” Chara replied. “But… this is just a waste of time - getting clean.”  


“wanna hear a joke about dirt?”  


“Don’t you fucking dare-”  


“ah, forget about it.”  


“Thank the stars.”  


“It got so stinky, it had to be cleaned.”  


Chara clenched her fists, taking a few steps back.  


“GOO HUG!” she screamed, running towards the tall skeleton, who immediately tried to run - or teleport - but hadn’t the heart to be the asshole he actually was.  
Chara wrapped herself around him, arms and legs clamping around his torso, mostly.  


He groaned, as the muddy goo seeped into his clothing. It did not help, that Chara rubbed her head against his sternum.  
The wet sensation wasn’t very pleasant, just to mention the smell.  


“That’s what you get, asshole-”  
“as long as i’m your one and only asshole.”  
“Your brother comes close.”  
“how fuckin’ dare he.”  


Chara snorted, as Rus lifted her properly up and balanced her on his magic-cushioned hipbone. It was still mesmerizing how the magic of his soul, not only kept his body together, but created the (touchable) illusion of a well trained body underneath those clothes. She wasn’t able to repress her constant blush worsening under the close, intimate contact. Having her legs wrapped around him sure was something… if there wouldn’t be the awful smell of Slothshua’s dirt goo.  


“well, sugar,” he purred. “since we’re _dirty_ as hell, we gotta get cleaned up. luckily i know the right spot to do so.”  
“Teleport?”  
“yuuup.”  
Chara grinned and grabbed the fur hem of Rus’ hood tightly, looking forward to whatever this insane idiot had planned.  
___

Giggling like teenagers, both of them returned to the way towards Hotland. Rus couldn’t let his phalanges off of her, touching her hair, hands, her hips or teasingly giving her butt a little slap. Chara, on the other hand, played with her heart locket, fumbled around with Rus’ sleeve or pressed her face against his upper arm. 

Were they on Cloud Nine?  
Definitely.

Would it ebb off any moment?  
Probably not.

Leaving the crystal cave with the bridge flowers, they left through a curved door and entered an abyssal darkness. 

“hey, kid,” Rus’ voice appeared next to her ear, his breath tickling the crook of her neck. “look up.”

Chara did as she was bidden and couldn’t believe what her eyes just saw.  
Her father told her of the sparkling caves of Waterfall, but she couldn’t imagine the beauty of said cavern. Now, seeing it in person, she held her breath in awe, savoring the view.

“Unbelievable,” she whispered, grabbing his hand tightly. “this is absolutely breathtaking, I mean… wow!” Watching the sparkling crystals, absorbing every spec of light, they could catch, put Chara at ease. A pure kind of peace filled her mind.

 _“A long time ago, monsters would whisper their wishes into the stars in the sky...”_ A blue, slightly glowing flower cited a story. _“...if you hoped with all your soul, your wish would become true. Now all we have are those sparkling stones at the ceiling…”_

Immediately, Chara’s shoulders shrunk and her thumb stroke Rus’ back of hand lovingly. 

_“Thousands of people wishing can’t be wrong!”_ Another echo flower lit up behind them. _“The Queen will prove that!”_

“Rus, where are we exactly?” Chara’s voice was low, afraid to overwrite the Echo flowers recordings. “wishing room,” the skeleton replied. “people went here… to wish for anything but a better future. but that was a very long time ago.” 

“What means a very long time?”

Rus falters under Chara’s question and looked up to the glittering ceiling. 

“after the crown princess killed herself.”

Chara couldn’t believe what he just said. 

Frisk… had killed herself?

_*I’m sorry._

She took her own life?

_*I’m really sorry._

Leaving those behind, that loved her?

_*Please, I’m so sorry, please forgive me._

Chara couldn’t believe, what she just got to know, thanks to him. Scoffing slightly, they continued walking through the wishing room, listening to more ageless confessions and wishes. A suicide? Frisk never mentioned anything like it about her early passing! The knowledge, that there were a lot of secrets kept from her, creeped up in the back of her head and Chara shivered slightly. 

How many secrets were hidden away in the Underground for her to discover?

“C’mon sis, make a wish!” A joyful boyish voice said.  
“I wish, that my brother and me see the real stars, one day. Together.” 

She recognized the voice immediately. A well known voice from inside her head. Chara hesitated to say anything, she couldn’t, she…

_*Hold your gushers, Chara, you can’t tell anyone, what’s going on between us._

A threat?

_*Don’t. You. Dare. He will think you're a crazy lunatic! Keep that in mind._

“I won’t.” She murmured. 

“didya say anythin’, kitten?” 

Chara smiled, looking at Rus. 

“Nope, I was just daydreaming a bit. The sparkling stones sure do bring me in the mood for some hopeful dreaming.”

“can imagine that, makes me want do… _things_.” Chara felt a teasing poke against her butt and made a high pitched shriek, hitting Rus’ back playfully. 

“Stop that!”  
“you don’t understand, babe, i can’t, you’re so soft and fleshy and comfy-”  
“Rus!”  
“... not touching you for a longer time makes me cravin’ it more and more…”  
“Oh stars, s-stop it-”

He groped her, chortling. 

“why should i stop? i’m your boyfriend, right?”  
“I-!! Still!! You can’t just-!! Ugh!” 

Chara pulled herself away from his grabby hand and hurried forwards, leaving the wishing room. The heat in her face and deepest core boiling with excitement about the romantic affection from this man overwhelmed her extremely. 

“aw, kitten, come on, don’t be a sourpuss!”

Chara turned around and flipped him off.

“Shut up, we have a mission at hand, don’t we?”

With a sigh, Rus nodded, before following his little human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think about Frisk's sudden change of character?  
> I recently thought a lot about the basic aspect of "SWAP" and noticed that both girls are general sweethearts. Chara is right as she is, but I think I have to pull Frisk into a... doubting position at least.
> 
> Was she really the all beloved crown princess of the queendom?


End file.
